Little Orphan Warner
by Wendy Raimi
Summary: Yakko, Wakko and Dot entangle themselves into a murder mystery that has gone unsolved for nearly 75 years. Welcome to the new Burbank.
1. The Finding

  
Two police officers and a guy, who looked like he might work at the Waldenbooks, came up to the Warners. The men's faces clearly showed...annoyance.  
"There! That kid there. He stole the books," 'Walden' said as he pointed to Wakko.  
"Wait a minute! My little bro stole nothing. He was with us the whole time." Yakko said, turning around to face the men.  
"But he looks just like the kid who stole the books." Walden said, anger in his voice.  
"I didn't steal anything." Wakko said as he held...aforementioned books.  
"Then what are those in your hands son?" asked one of the police officers.  
"Those are the books that girl gave us." Dot said as she looked at the books. The second officer, Ed, looked to Bob and then at Walden.  
"And you did say that a girl stole the books. This kid here is a boy, Walden."  
"Well, either way, someone will have to pay for those books! They cost a fortune." Walden complained, but began adding, "You know, these kids look like the girl. Maybe they should pay."  
"No way! We're not paying for someone else's mistake!" Yakko said, the other two Warner's nodding, agreeing with their brother.  
"Fine. I'll press charges." Walden said as he turned to the two police officers.   
"Time-out!" Yakko shouted and the three Warners went into a huddle with the policemen and Walden watching.  
"Yakko, what are we going to do? We didn't even know the girl, and now look what she's done!" Dot hissed.  
"I know Dot, I know." Yakko said, the back of his mind running ideas at lighting speed on what they should do.  
"Can't we just give him the books back? We still have most of them." Wakko offered as an idea. Yakko grinned slightly at his brother and then stood, the Warners resuming their original positions.  
"@@@@hhhh....How about we just give you the books back, and you let us go? Huh?" Yakko said with his big con-artist grin. Walden rubbed his bare chin as he thought this over.  
"Let me see the books." he asked, and Wakko complied giving him the stack. Walden quickly went through the books.  
"You're missing one. Pay for that and you can go." Dot and Wakko looked to their eldest sibling who closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.   
"Do you take Discover?" he asked.   


  
"I never knew a book could cost thirty-five dollars. I wonder what it was about." Dot pondered out loud as the three walked home. Dot and Wakko were happily eating ice cream cones as they walked ahead. But Yakko just stuffed his hands in his pockets and began his own silent wondering. What was the book about? Why did it cost so much, and most important of all, who was the girl that the man said looked like Wakko? But Yakko knew that this wasn't his only problem he should be worrying about. Thirty-five dollars was a lot of money and even though they owned the Discover card, the money would come from the studio and he knew Plotz was going to have a fit.   
The studio's budget had been in a crunch lately, and Mr. Plotz had never liked the Warner's anyway, and to make them suffer, he deliberately tried everything he could to restrict the amount of money they were allowed per week. _Why not just make it per day!_ Yakko would occasionally think with all the venom his mind could muster.   
As the Warner three headed for the Water Tower, Dr. Scratchnsniff came running up to Yakko, fear and worry playing on his face as usual. Wakko and Dot were all ready climbing the ladder as the Doctor stopped Yakko.  
"Yakko, Mr. Plotz vants to see you. He says it is emportant." 'Scratchy' whispered to the eldest Warner. Yakko nodded and turned to call his sibs, but Scratchy quickly interrupted.  
"No Yakko. Just you." Yakko paused and visibly frowned. He knew what this would be about.   
  


  
"Yakko, Yakko, come in! Come in! Sit, do you want anything? I can have my secretary get you a coke!" Mr. Plotz began as he greeted Yakko into his office. Yakko smiled politely but knew that this was just a front. Once the door was shut and the curtains closed, the real debate would happen. He listened as the door was shut gently and then watched as the curtains were pulled closed by the studio director. Plotz sat down at his desk and his face became a stony rock of non-happiness. Yakko took the seat across from him. When his siblings were with him, he had to convey chaos, and reach to their level, which wasn't bad, but with...."grown-ups" he had to act his age and his almost con-artist vocal tricks came in handy when it was just him against the world.   
"I suppose you all ready know what this is about?" Plotz asked, his voice cold and hard, ready to kick the Warner out at any moment with a scream.  
"Yes, I do." Yakko replied coolly. He would not let Plotz get under his skin.   
"Yakko, our budget is going under, and to keep trying to finance your little...escapades along with the damage that you cause nearly everyday around town, plus the frivolous spending--"  
"Get to the point." Yakko said tiredly. He was one never to waste words.  
"We're cutting your budget to fifty dollars a week and if this keeps up, we're locking the water tower for another sixty years." Plotz said quickly getting to the point. Yakko blinked and looked amazed.  
"We can't live off of that! Do you know how much Wakko eats in a day?!" Yakko asked as he stood up. He was truly outraged.  
"If you kids can't behave then fine, we'll put you on restrictions and maybe ground you someday until you kids can grow up!" Plotz yelled, standing up.   
"What about the check? From the party? The one billion dollars?"   
"You've used up a good portion of it all ready. There isn't much left."  
"Didn't you invest it?" asked Yakko, anger boiling inside of him.  
"Yes. In the company. In our movies. We just haven't been doing too well." Plotz said, trying to be modest. Yakko rolled his eyes. Yeah, Plotz was smart.   
"Just shape up or ship out and that goes for the rest of those kids too!" Plotz said, trying not to yell. Yakko, still standing stared Plotz right in the eye.  
"If it wasn't for us, there'd be no studio!" he said back.  
"Yes there would!"  
"Oh yeah, uh huh, what? 'Buddy Inc.'? Don't threaten us Plotz!" Yakko felt like he was arguing with Dot.  
"What are you going to do about it?" Plotz shouted at him now.  
Yakko raised a finger and dug through his mind, but nothing would come up. He had lost this round and they both knew it.  
"Bye bye." Plotz said in his semi sugary voices as he led the Warner out the door. Yakko nearly stomped out. He would show Plotz, the Warners would once again be the pride of all who knew them.   


  
  
The evening went by as normal. Yakko made dinner, which consisted of a large batch of Top Rammen. Afterwards they rode their train and ended up watching part of the "Linda Blair Story" but got bored after it had all ready shown the clip from "The Exorcist" with her head spinning. Deciding that it was getting late, even for them, Yakko tucked his sibs each into their own bed.  
"Yakko, do you still have that hat?" Wakko asked as he held his beige teddy bear close. Yakko raised a brow, but pulled it out of his pocket.  
"This one?" he asked as he held up the green baseball cap. Wakko nodded and reached out for it. Yakko let him have it.  
"Why you want it for?" Yakko asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.  
"I dunno. It seems like a nice hat." Wakko said as he examined the hat and brushed off the dirt and lint. Yakko shrugged as he stood again.  
"Well, it's yours now unless we find the girl again." Yakko said as he headed for the doorway.  
Wakko blinked and looked at the hat.  
"G'nite Yakko."   
"G'nite little bro."  
Tucking Dot in was harder. She hopped in bed easily and snuggled under the covers.  
"Yakko who was that girl today?" Dot asked curiously.  
"I dunno Dot."  
"Am I cuter than her?" Dot asked. Yakko grinned a bit.  
"Of course you are."   
Dot smiled. "Am I really a Princess?" she asked.  
"In every sense of the word." Yakko said.  
"I love you." she replied softly as her eyes got heavy.  
"Love you too Dot. G'nite." Yakko said as he flipped the light switch off. But Dot was all ready asleep.   
  
  
  
Elsewhere in Burbank though....  
  
  
"Sally! Sally where are you?" cried out Francine Lewis, irritated at not being able to find her charge. Sally rolled her deep black eyes and came out from the kitchen.  
"I am here Miss Lewis." Sally replied looking annoyed and stuffing her gloved hands into her shorts pockets.  
"Sally!...Where is your hat my dear girl?" Sally looked down at the floor and rubbed her paw against the linoleum.  
"I...misplaced it Miss Lewis." Sally replied again in her Manchester accent.   
"Sally I--"  
"Please, Miss Lewis, that's not my name, and I know how much you love it, but please, call me Swirls. The nuns always did."  
Francine sighed. "Swirls, the nuns didn't want to believe that you weren't human. I know you are human, but you have just been born wrong."  
Francine said as she rubbed her hands over the girls' two ears that stood upon her head. Swirls batted at the hands and Francine stood straighter.  
"Pray tonight Swirls that God may change you into your true form." Swirls rolled her eyes.  
"Yes Miss Lewis." she replied softly and headed off to her room.   
  
  
  
  
Swirls' room was covered in purple, much to the dislike of Francine. The walls, the curtains, even the bed sheets and carpet were purple. To Swirls, it was beautiful. To Francine she thought it was a lesser form of black, which she hated as well. Swirls walked over to her mirror and combed her hair, then tied her ears together with a little bow, thinking she looked cute. She slipped into a purple nightgown and looked out her window. The stars didn't shine so bright and the moon was full and round. Swirls sighed.  
"Oh great big giant moon in the sky, do you listen to what I ask?" Swirls whispered. There was no reply and she sighed once more.  
"The stars don't listen, Miss Lewis doesn't listen. Oh giant Moon, you have to listen. Please just grant me one wish...please?" she asked it. The moon continued to shine. Swirls took a deep breath.  
"Here goes. Moon, I would like a family. A real one. Not Miss Lewis or her getting a husband. I want a real family. With a brother and a sister and a home where linoleum doesn't cover everything but my room. I want to be tucked in at night and eat pizza on Friday's. I know this is a lot to ask for Moon, but give me the family and I'll take care of the rest." Swirls said. Again, the moon didn't reply. Swirls sighed and slipped under the giant comforter of her purple bed. _Someday_ she whispered. _Someday._   
  
  
  
  
As Burbank slept through the early morning hours, Yakko slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen, only to all ready see Dot up and flipping through the TV channels while the sound was on mute. An easy guess told him Wakko was still in bed. Yakko headed to the kitchen and began to pull random things from the fridge. Milk for his siblings, Soymilk for him, left over batter from yesterday's breakfast that his brother claimed was still good. Basically, Wakko was the chef, and Yakko just set up everything for his brother to cook.  
As he looked over the contents on the counter, he looked over to the bored and almost sleeping Dot.   
"Want some milk?" he asked, all ready getting down a glass and opening the carton.   
Dot yawned in reply and nodded. Yakko brought over the glass and sat next to his sister. On mute, the Honeymooners played on.   
"Why isn't anything good on at this time of day?" Dot asked as she sipped at her milk.   
"Who watches TV at 5:00am?" Yakko asked.  
"Us." Dot replied matter of factly.   
"Okkay, other than people who live in water towers, who watches TV at this time of day?" he tried again.  
Dot thought for a moment. "Clubbers?" she asked.   
Yakko raised a brow as his sister grinned sheepishly. He smiled, shook his head and stood. "Well, it's 5:15. Time for all good Warners to be awake and cook their siblings breakfast." he said as he headed for Wakko's room.  
Entering the boy's room, he found Wakko asleep of course, holding tightly onto the green hat, his own red cap off and on the floor. Yakko picked up the red one and placed it on his brother's head. Wakko shifted, but still didn't wake up.  
"There's waffles in about 12 minutes." Yakko whispered softly. Wakko's eyes popped open and he sat up.   
"Where?!" he asked eagerly as he looked around and sniffed.   
"As soon as you start cooking." Yakko said heading for the door.  
Wakko pouted but nonetheless got up and changed into his trademark clothing and headed out. The Honeymooners now played at a reasonable level and Wakko headed for the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of milk as he proceeded to make waffles for his sibs. After a few minutes, laughter emitted from the TV.  
"What's happening?" asked Wakko, trying to peer around the corner of the wall.  
"He said that line again." Dot called back.  
"What line?" Wakko asked.   
"The one about banging his wife to the moon." Yakko called back.   
"Isn't that rather harsh?" Wakko asked.   
"No, just sexist and horribly abusive." Dot called back.   
Wakko shrugged and proceeded to place the waffles on a plate. Grabbing another glass, he poured some Soymilk for Yakko and placed it at his setting on the counter. He looked at the breakfast, nodded in contentment and walked to his sibs. "Breakfast is served." he stated in a semi-regal fashion.   
Taking their sweet time, they headed for the counter bar and proceeded to have breakfast.  
"I wonder if anyone else really does get up at this time?" Dot pondered aloud as she scooped up another waffle bite. The time was 5:36.   
  
  
Elsewhere in Burbank, Miss Lewis' alarm clock rang with a fury throughout the house, but to Swirls, it made no difference. She headed for the room and turned it off, then turned to her foster mother.   
"Miss Lewis. It's all most six o'clock. Do you want to go to mass today?" whispered the Warner.  
Miss Lewis popped up in bed and looked frantic. "Swirls! Why didn't you wake me earlier? Hurry and get--" she looked at her charge and realized dress wasn't the term to use. She was all ready. Francine shook her head and got out of bed, running around her room to get dressed. Swirls just watched, in half-amazement, and half not really caring.   
"Don't just stand there like a ninny! Go out and get the car started!" Francine had time to shout. Swirls jumped and ran from the room, through the house and to the garage.  
By the time the car got started, Miss Lewis was locking the house door that led to the garage. She slipped into the driver's seat and quickly pulled out and drove towards the church, all while amazingly following the speed limit.  
At 6:15, they were still early, and not many people were at St. Catherine's of the Holy Child for the 6:30am Mass. But heading for the front, Swirls just followed. She really had no choice in the matter, and really wished daily Mass wasn't a part of her life. She was really hungry and desperately wanted breakfast. Luckily though, this time she was not being hissed at for her hat. Alas, her hat was probably gone for good and secretly she missed it dearly. And yet, she had a funny feeling of where it was at.   
~The boy with the khaki pants must have it.~ she thought.  
She went through the motions of the Mass, and even though she had a feel of reverence for the large church, and the belief that God was good, she had to be honest in her heart; she didn't care. She was definitely sure she wasn't human, so God had no control over her. When the homily came around, she let her mind wander.   
  
  
After breakfast was over for the three Warners, they made a list. A list Yakko would keep in his pocket and pull out in secret. A list of things to do.   
"Number one, eat at Taco Bell." Wakko announced quickly as Dot prepared and wrote all of the ideas down. Yakko and Dot looked to Wakko.   
"You aren't going to eat the hot sauce and then burp out fire again, are you? Cause that's getting rather old." Dot said as she looked annoyed at Wakko. Wakko frowned.   
"What? I should have a decent meal?" he asked his sister.   
"Yes!" Yakko and Dot replied in unison. Wakko pouted as Yakko said,  
"Put down Scratchy at 10:45. We've got an appointment today with him." Dot wrote down the note as number two and then looked to her brothers for more ideas. She had none of her own. Wakko shrugged and Yakko seemed to be waiting for Dot to reply. After realizing she wasn't going to, he sighed.  
"I think it's that time again." Yakko said.   
Dot and Wakko looked almost frightened,  
"Not the--"   
"No," Yakko interrupted. "For us to find a special friend."   
Dot and Wakko looked relieved and then smiled...which turned into looks of confusion. "You think we can find one?" Dot asked, with Wakko adding on,   
"Legally?"   
Yakko stood tall and proud.   
"Yes. Yes I think we can."   
"Before 10:45?" Dot asked.   
Yakko slouched and looked beaten.   
"No." he replied.  
Dot reached up a hand and patted Yakko's arm gently. He smiled warmly to his sibling and looked at the list.   
"Put down special friend then and we'll go for a walk."   
"Where?" asked Wakko.   
"To see if we got our name on a Hollywood star yet. Come on!" he urged his siblings and they left.   
  
  
"Sally...Swirls, whoever! Get out of my way! I'm trying to clean and my friends will be over any second!" Miss Lewis yelled at Swirls who was trying to clean up the flour she had recently spilled on the kitchen floor.   
"Yes'm." she replied, standing and quickly heading for her room.  
Once in her room, Swirls opened a drawer from her dresser and pulled out three Dixie cups and a small pink rubber ball. Smiling wickedly, she headed out of the house and towards Hollywood Blvd.   
  
  
Whistling in three part harmony, mainly to show off, Yakko, Wakko and Dot walked down the "Avenue of the Stars" and looked closely at each star to see if their name might happen to be plastered on one of them. So far, not so good. But as they slowly walked down the street, they heard a voice ring out from a nearby crowd.   
"Need money quick? Lottery ain't workin'? Then hey mister have I got the game for you! Come find out just how quick your eyes are and play speedball! Wager what you wish, but if you lose, don't say I didn't warn ya!"  
The voice spoke in an accent the Warners felt they had heard before, but the speed of the voice was fast. Yakko was impressed at the speed. The 'customers' were not.   
"What is this game again?" asked a man wearing a fedora.  
"Speedball." the voice replied.   
As the Warners moved up to the crowd, Yakko and Dot seemed to moan. It was the girl from the mall. But instead of her hat she wore a green ribbon around both ears. Her hands were quickly moving the Dixie cups around each other. The obvious. Choose the cup with the ball underneath, and win your money back. Only the other customers seemed amused.  
Wakko watched the cups with interest and moved up to the table, only to be pulled back by Yakko.   
"Just walk away Wakko. Just walk away." Yakko said as he pushed his siblings towards walking down the road again. The girl stopped and looked up.   
"Hey! You stole my hat!" she cried to Yakko.   
Yakko blinked. "Ex-squeeze me?" he asked, confused. "You owe us thirty-five dollars." he added.   
The girl looked at the group of customers who now looked between Yakko and the girl, trying to figure out what this was all about. The girl became nervous.   
"I-I shall repay you once I get my hat back." she said, trying to build up courage. By the time she had her sentence finished, Wakko had pulled the green hat out from under his red one and offered it to the girl. She once again grew nervous as she took her own cap back.  
Yakko grinned smartly.   
"Now, about our money..." he said, trailing off to see if the girl would speak up. She looked obviously cornered now. Her eyes darted between the Warner siblings and her customers.  
"I-I don't have any money." she said softly, almost inaudible.  
"What's that? I couldn't hear you?" Yakko asked as he cupped a hand to his ear. Since she didn't have the money, the only obvious thing to do was to torture the poor girl.  
"I don't have any money." the girl said louder.   
Yakko sighed as he shook his head and proceeded to click is tongue in a tsking manner. "Well, then, whatever shall we do?" he seemed to ask his siblings for ideas.   
They smiled, wickedly, evilly, but gave no answer. They knew what ran through Yakko's head.  
The girl looked between the customers and then to Yakko, and suddenly she burst into tears. Some of the customers quickly walked away, not wanting to be pulled into this. Some was an understatement. Only five were left, including the Warners, but at the sound of the crying, Yakko took a step back. He didn't mean to make her cry and now secretly he felt horrible for doing such a thing. Wakko, seeing the girl cry, looked up to his brother, and then gently approached the girl, offering her a Kleenex. She looked at the Kleenex, burst into a new set of tears and threw her arms around Wakko's neck. Wakko blinked and for a moment, Yakko and Dot thought their brother might follow the girl into her tears. Wakko pulled away from the girl for a moment. She began to dry her tears with the back of her gloved hands. Wakko whispered to her so his siblings wouldn't hear,   
"What's your name?"   
"Swirls." she responded. Wakko gave her a little grin.   
"I'm Wakko. Ignore my brother. He didn't mean to make you cry."  
Swirls nodded a bit and returned the small smile, trying to show none of this had really effected her.  
Yakko looked to Dot and then to his brother and the girl. "@@@hhh...you can just get us the money whenever...we'll be going." Yakko said as he tried to pull his brother from the girl. Wakko made a gookie as he was pulled away and Swirls giggled a bit and waved to Wakko. Wakko smiled, waved back and slowly disappeared into the mid-morning crowd of Hollywood.   
  
  
"She was a nice girl." Wakko said softly as he now walked back to the studio with his sibs. The search for their name on a Hollywood star had failed. Not a single star listed their name. Yakko looked over to his brother with a raised brow.   
"Why do you say that Wakko?" he asked.   
Wakko shrugged in reply and kept quiet. How was he supposed to say, because he thought she was? He knew Yakko had to be upset himself for upsetting the girl. Dot rolled her eyes.   
"Wakko, you think everyone's nice. Did we forget the fact she was hosting an illegal game?" the youngest Warner asked, peeved. Wakko and Yakko blinked.   
"Your point?" Yakko asked, knowing that they themselves had never been quiet legal with the tricks they pulled.  
Dot just drowned in her own anger. Yes, today she would have issues to talk to Scratchy about.   
  
  
"Helloooo Nurse!" cried the Warner Brother's in unison as they entered the waiting room of Doctor Otto Scratchnsniff, the studio psychiatrist. Hello Nurse, was tall, blonde, and mostly legs. A distant cousin of Jessica Rabbit, she helped "Scratchy" as the Warners knew him. It only came with one set back: No one knew her real name.  
As Hello Nurse proceeded to lead the Warners to Scratchy, Dot ran ahead and slammed the door in their faces. They were all startled, perhaps the Nurse more than the others. Dot quickly poked her head out only to say,   
"I get to talk to him first. Alone." between clenched teeth.  
The brothers shrugged and as the Nurse walked back to her desk, the boys literally walked on air to follow her.  
  
Time passed by, and as Yakko sat on the Nurse's desk, eagerly trying to help her with anything, Wakko sat back and read a magazine. He just didn't seem like...drooling today. Issues ran through his mind as well, but, he didn't even know where to begin with them. Or how they even started. The door opened though, and Dot walked out, smiling. Wakko jumped up and ran to the door himself, but then turned to Yakko, wondering if he should enter. Yakko paid his brother no attention, so Wakko proceeded to enter the main office.  
  
As Wakko shut the door gently, Scratchy looked up and braced himself. In his mind, Wakko was the most unpredictable of the trio. Wakko hopped onto the green couch and sat there, waiting to be interrogated.   
"Hello Wakko. What are you thinking?" asked Scratchy, having found that this was the perfect question to ask any Warner in order to get away from gags.  
Wakko thought hard for a moment and asked,   
"Doctor Scratchnsniff, do you ever hear voices and not know where they come from?" Scratchy blinked, unsure of where this might lead to,   
"I can't say Wakko, why?"   
Wakko sighed.   
"I've been thinkin' a lot lately, mostly at nights, but some of the thoughts don't sound like...me." he said, his voice getting softer. Scratchy had to honestly believe this was interesting for him. Could he finally unlock the reason why the Warners were chaos in a bottle?   
"What do they say Wakko?" Scratchy asked, softly himself, on the verge of feeling like he would know. Wakko thought long. He thought hard.   
"Well, there's my thoughts, and then another's. And they sound like...a girl's voice. And when I hear her, I feel sad." Wakko's voice was so soft now Scratchy was straining to hear.  
"Why do you feel sad Wakko? What does she say?" Scratchy asked, his voice not as soft, but gentle, so as not to scare the boy.  
"I dunno. I just know that at night I get really sad for no reason but the sadness isn't coming from me." Wakko replied softly, his hat off now, his fingers twisting it.   
Scratchy thought back and then watched as Wakko twisted his hat back and forth in his hands.   
"Wakko, do you hear her now?" Scratchy asked.   
Wakko closed his eyes and thought for a moment. His head twitched a bit and he slowly opened his eyes.   
"She's there. I can feel her. But I can't hear her."   
"Try Wakko! Try!" Scratchy urged.   
Wakko closed his eyes again very tight and listened. His head twitched and his eyes popped open.   
"I can't!" Wakko said, his voice getting louder, tired of trying to hear something that he only felt.  
Scratchy sat back in his chair, feeling tired, but it was Wakko who was exhausted. Relaxed now, he put his hat back on.   
"We will try again later. Okkay Wakko?" Scratchy asked gently. Wakko nodded and stood up, leaving the office so Yakko could have his turn.   
  
  
After the Warners left Swirls on the sidewalk, she had packed her things quickly, running all the way home. When she entered the small house, she noticed Francine entertaining her bridge club in the parlour, so Swirls tiptoed to her room, and quickly closed the door behind her. Flopping onto her bed, she pulled off her hat and began chanting to herself softly, "Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry." but a few tears slipped underneath her closed eyelids. Swirls sighed and sat up, once again wiping those few tears on her cheek with the back of her hand. She looked to the corner of her room where the thirty-five dollar book sat. It was a large brown book, and in dull yellow writing it said, The Orphan, The Brain, The Family: Why Children are Depressed. _By: John McFarrow_ Swirls picked up her pillow and threw it at the book. "You caused me all these problems! And why should that silly boy care about thirty-five dollars? He probably has a mom and dad who are rich and can pay for it anyway. I just have Francine," at the mention of this, a loud chorus of laughter rang down the hall, "And she refuses to give me an allowance. Says it'll teach me to be spoiled." Swirls pouted and hugged the second pillow she kept on her bed. "Why do I always have to be alone?" she whispered into the darkness of her room.   
  
  
Wakko stared straight ahead, but his eyes weren't focus, and his sibs knew, because they had stopped walking two minutes ago and Wakko had continued on.  
"Um, Wakko, are you--"   
"Still living?!" Dot cried out while Yakko tried to find a nicer way to call their brother. Wakko stopped, blinked and turned around, blushing a bit with a sheepish smile on his face,  
"Yeah." he responded softly.  
Yakko and Dot hurried to catch up with Wakko,   
"So, what did you and Scratchy talk about?" Dot asked.   
"Yeah, he seemed pretty scared when I came in." Yakko added. Wakko shrugged.   
"I just told him things."   
"Like that you still wet the bed?" Dot asked.   
Yakko's eyes widened and he looked to Dot. Nope. Not goin' there. Wakko frowned. "No. Just stuff. Why? What did you talk about?" Wakko asked Dot.  
Dot shrugged.  
"What I always talk about. Do I really spend too much money on my own personal needs?"   
Yakko grinned a bit. He felt that his sister was growing up. Wakko and Dot looked to Yakko.   
"And you?" they asked.   
Yakko shrugged.   
"Teen things. Don't worry about it. We all need our own privacy sometimes."   
Yakko told his sibs. They only took this to mean one thing. 'Scratchy, could I ever score with the Nurse? And why not?' Wakko and Dot giggled while their older brother frowned. They headed back to the Water Tower and freshened up to prepare for what was left of the day.   
  
  
Swirls looked up and rubbed her eyes. She must have cried herself to sleep. She sat up and looked around her room. The fading sunlight tried to leak under her dark purple blinds, but failed. Looking at her clock, the green LED lights told her it was almost 3:30pm. ~So I did cry myself to sleep.~ she confirmed to herself. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes some more she flipped her cap backwards and slid off her bed. She heard the sound of fading voices at the front door, and as she walked out of her room and into the entryway she watched as a smiling Francine closed the front door. Francine blinked as she noticed Swirls.   
"Where have you been all afternoon? I've been worried." Francine asked as she moved to the parlour and picked up a few coffee cups, motioning for Swirls to help. Swirls picked up the remaining few and shrugged.   
"I went out, and then I came back." she replied simply as the two went into the kitchen. Francine put her cups in the sink and Swirls placed the ones she held onto the counter.  
"You didn't get into any trouble I hope." Francine said as she emptied out some of the cups.   
Swirls leaned back on the counter and looked at her hands. "Um, I should probably ask you. How do I go about buying myself things?" Swirls asked, trying to hide the nervousness she felt. Francine smiled as she wiped her hands on a nearby towel.  
"Whatever you want to buy, you ask me for the money and I will give it to you." Swirls lowered her head farther to stare at the floor.   
"May I have thirty-five dollars then?" she asked softly.  
Francine frowned, but headed to the kitchen table for her purse. Swirls watched as she went and raised her head a bit. This would definitely teach her not to steal anymore. She couldn't help it though. Money made the world go round, but when it came for Swirls, illegal gambling and stealing were the only real ways she could get what she wanted. Besides, it was the thrill of being caught that helped keep her going for what she knew she probably didn't need. Francine turned around and placed a crisp bill in Swirls' hand. Swirls looked at it. Ten dollars. "You'll have to work for the rest." Miss Lewis said softly.   
Swirls pocketed the money and looked up. Francine smiled warmly. "What first?" Swirls asked, ready to go at it.  
"The dishes. And then you can clean the rest of the parlour." Swirls nodded and got to work.   
  
  
Swirls sighed as she had finished her work and made an extra ten dollars. She looked at the two crisp bills and then headed to her closet. Opening the door and kneeling over to a corner, she pulled out a small cigar box and opened it. Taking off the top tissue paper she grabbed the money clip and slipped the bills in it with the others.  
Looking down in the box before she replaced the clip she saw a white sheet of paper with typewriter print on it. Taking it out, she smiled. It wasn't exactly the greatest thing. It was suppose to be a birth certificate, but it was a poor one. The nuns at St. Catherine's of the Holy Child had typed it up for her so she could feel special. In fact, the nuns had done a lot for the poor girl, but she shook her head and replaced the paper and money clip.  
On a second thought, on a whim, she pulled the money clip back, and counted through the money. She bit her lip as the total came to twenty-six dollars.   
~Maybe if I just give them this, they'll leave me alone.~ she thought.   
Pocketing the money and putting the box back, she closed her closet door and headed out to find the boy with the slacks.   
  
  
Russell Crowe darted behind a corner, his breathing heavy and quick. He had never been so scared in all his life. He peered around the corner, but the lot was empty save for a man rolling a costume rack to a nearby sound stage. He leaned back against the wall and rolled his eyes skywards. He then felt a slight tapping on his right shoulder. His eyes rolled that way and he jumped. Immeaditly he was pantsed and as he tried to run, he feel onto the black top, in front of Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck. Both of them snickered, as well as the Warners behind him.   
"Why! Why do you torment me?!" Russell asked the Warners as he tried slipping his pants back on and standing up.   
"You're so dreamy!" Dot replied.  
"You remind us of Jimmy Cagney." Yakko answered for himself. Wakko just stood there and watched. He knew he didn't have to answer and to be truthful he didn't have one. He followed along. That was good enough. Russell Crowe sighed, "Can't you just leave me alone?"  
"Nu uh. You're our special friend." Yakko said in a voice that made special friend sound like the best and worst thing in the world.  
Russell Crowe thought for a moment and then said,  
"Look...kids...I've got to get back to my movie, so if you could just please leave me alone for a second I promise I'll...um...take you for ice cream?" he tried. The Warners eyed Russell Crowe and then grinned, Yakko shook his hand. "You got yourself a deal."   
  
  
Swirls watched as Yakko and Russell Crowe shook hands as she walked down Warner Blvd. She blinked as she looked through the gate and saw them.   
~The boy with the slacks!~ she said in amazement and quickly headed for the gate, but then was immediately stopped by none other than a guard. (Ralph was off duty)  
The guard looked the girl over and raised a brow.   
"And who might you be?" Swirls thought for a moment and then smiled.   
"Sally. Sally Mercy." the guard still looked her over.   
"And what do you want?" Swirls looked around the guard and watched as the boy with the slacks talked to his siblings.   
"I want to talk to the boy behind you." she replied.   
The guard turned and saw Yakko. The guard's eyes widen and then he turned back to Swirls.   
"Him? Are you sure?"  
Swirls nodded. The guard took another look.   
"I can't let you into the studio though. Personnel only."   
Swirls bit her lip and watched as the boy and his siblings began to walk away.   
"Well, can't you call him over?" she asked, her worry and nervousness growing. The guard's eyes widen and he decided to lie.   
"No." Swirls whipped off her hat and began to twist it in sheer nervousness now.   
What could she do...what could she do?   
  
Wakko rubbed his eyes and then scratched his head, slipping his hand under his hat. A slight breeze rushed by and gently blew it off and suddenly, Wakko stared off into space. Dot looked to her hatless brother.  
"Wakko? Are you okkay?" she asked, noticing the sudden change. His mouth moved a bit, but there was no sound.   
"Wakko?" Dot asked again, becoming worried and placing a hand on her brother's arm.  
Wakko continued to mouth things, but no sound came out. When he didn't answer Dot, she looked to Yakko.   
"Come here!" she hissed to her eldest brother.   
Yakko raised a brow and walked over.   
"What's wrong with him Yakko?" Dot asked. Yakko snapped his fingers in front of his brother.   
"Wakko, hey, you here?" But Wakko just closed his eyes. It was as if he was concentrating on the meaning of life and coming close to finding it.  
The guard looked to the girl who just stared at the street, her own eyes unfocused. She had stop twisting her hat, her lips moved as well.  
"Miss?" the guard asked, but turned as he heard snapping. The guard, confused, walked tentatively to the Warners and looked at Wakko. The guard blinked and looked to Swirls.   
Swirls closed her eyes and began to move, slowly, gently, into the studio. Wakko ever so slowly turned around himself and held up his hand. Swirls' arm raised and her hand seemed to search the air. Slowly, the two made their way to each other. Yakko and Dot watched, confused, and then rolled their eyes as they noticed the girl. The guard watched, just mainly freaked out at the whole scene. He reminded himself to send in his notice after he took care of this mess. As for Swirls and Wakko, half way into the studio, their hands met and firmly pushed against each other. They slowly opened their eyes and everyone blinked. Wakko, hatless, blue shirt, gloved hand pressed against gloved hand to a hatless Swirls who wore a red shirt and blue pants.  
"Swirls." Wakko whispered with a smile, while in unison, and her own smile, the girl replied,  
"Wakko."   
"@@@@hhhh...hello? Are we even here anymore? And why is this girl stalking us?" Yakko asked. But neither Swirls nor Wakko paid attention.   
"I give up." the guard said and stalked off to the offices to say he was quitting.  
Dot walked up to the two who stared at each other and examined them from every possible angle. After a moment she blinked, dumbfounded.   
"Woah. Talk about the Mirror has Two Faces." she said.   
Yakko blinked and came over, examining the two himself now. "Can someone please explain what is going on here?" Yakko asked. The two, Swirls and Wakko, giggled softly.  
Yakko frowned. "All right." and reaching into his pocket, pulling out his brother's hat, he nearly slammed the red cap onto his brother's head. Wakko frowned and rubbed his head, peering up to Yakko.  
"What is going on?" Yakko asked, trying to keep his temper low. Wakko shrugged.   
"I dunno. I just heard this voice and did what Scratchy said to do. Concentrate on it." Yakko looked to Swirls for an explanation.   
"He asked me what was wrong." she said, pointing to Wakko. Yakko raised a brow.   
"I think this calls for the experts. Unfortunately we don't have any, so Scratchy will have to do."   
  
  
Yakko and Dot were leaning against the wall underneath the window, trying hard not to be bored out of their skulls as Doctor Scratchnsniff eyed a hatless Wakko. Scratchy held up a card, which said five on it. Wakko closed his eyes and tried concentrating. Soon, a buzzer sounded.   
"Five?" asked a Manchester voice from the small box. Scratchy shook his head.   
"Come back in, Swirls." and soon the door opened as the aforementioned girl walked in.  
Swirls looked to Wakko who grinned, making the hatless Swirls grin as well.   
"Those were the simple tests." Scratchy began to explain. "Exactly how strong your...telepathy is, would need to be tested by someone who studies in this area. Unfortunately, I am not the one." Scratchy finished off. Yakko and Dot brightened up. "Can we go now?" Dot asked excitedly.  
Scratchy shrugged. "Of course." he replied and Dot shot up, ready to head for the door.   
Yakko on the other hand took his time. "Why did you want to see us in the first place, Swirls?" Yakko asked.   
Rummaging through her pocket, Swirls held out the money she had earned. "It's not thirty-five, but I was hoping it would help." she explained softly.  
Yakko looked at the money, wondering if he should take it or not. Finally he pushed the hand away. "Keep it for now. We'll figure out something later."  
Wakko replaced his hat and watched as Dot stood near the door, waiting impatiently for the group to leave. Yakko sighed, "Come siblings...and, you. Off to home to straighten out this mess." he said as he marched towards the door. Wakko followed and after replacing her own hat, Swirls did too, waving to Scratchy. After they had left, Scratchy slumped in his chair. "I hope she's the last one." he said to Ziggy.   
  
  
Dot sat over at the table, not wanting to be part of this new group, but she could still hear them talking, and see them. Yakko sat in a big green La-Z-Boy as Swirls and Wakko seemed to practically cuddle each other to death on the blue sofa. Yakko stared at his hands, which were in Mr. Burns thinking style at the moment.  
"When were you born?" Yakko asked, specifically to Swirls.   
"According to the nuns, I was found March Second of 1930 on the front steps of St. Catherine's of the Holy Child. " she responded politely.   
Yakko processed this information.   
"Where did you get the hat?"   
"It was in the basket with me."   
As fast as Yakko asked her a question, Swirls would respond to it just as quick. It was as if it were a fast moving game of Ping-Pong.  
Wakko watched, interested in learning about the new girl. After a moment, the questions stopped and Yakko stood.   
"Stand." he seemed to command the two, they did.   
"Take off your hats and stand back to back." he continued to command, and the two followed. Placing his hand across the top of the their heads, he eyed the very rough measurement.   
"Face each other." and they did. He made another rough measurement, and Dot watched as the two held hands. Yakko stood back, and stroked his chin a bit as the two put their hats back on.   
"This is rather odd." Yakko mumbled softly.  
Wakko and Swirls just stared at each other as Dot rolled her eyes.   
"Will you two cut it out? You're twins, not in love!" she yelled at the...twins.   
They blinked and eyed her and instead of getting the usual Wakko frown Dot had always been used to. It was now multiplied. She shivered and Yakko grinned.   
"I suppose this is a new member of our family then." he said. Swirls blinked and looked at Yakko.   
"Really? Does that mean I still owe you the money then?"   
"Yes!" Dot replied before anyone else could.  
"At least about the money." she added.   
Swirls looked to Yakko. "We'll talk about that later. Now as for these nuns, do they know you're out?" asked Yakko, concerned about the grown-ups that might enter.  
Swirls sighed. "They're dead. The Cathedral caught on fire and all the nuns died. Only I and a few others survived. In the nuns will, they left me in the care of Miss Francine Lewis and yes, she knows I'm out and she expects me back. Soon." Swirls looked at the ground, sad, almost ashamed. Wakko took on the expression of sadness and wrapped his arms around Swirls, as if trying to protect her in that hug. She smiled and in return her male reflection smiled as well.  
Yakko shrugged. "Well then, we'll just have to tell her you belong to us now. Well, really to Wakko."  
"Where's she gonna sleep?! We don't have room for her!" Dot cried out as she seemed to practically storm over to the other three.   
"My room!" Wakko said energetically, which only made Swirls perk up even more.  
Yakko raised a brow as Dot frowned.   
"We could have slumber parties!" Swirls exclaimed to her twin. Wakko only nodded and then Swirls nodded, and then they grinned and then they danced and giggled.   
"Gee, this is dumber than advertised." Dot mumbled.  
Yakko grinned. "As long as she follows the rules, I don't care," he then turned serious, "But first, we have to clear this with everyone else." At this, the twins frowned as well as Dot, but a clock happily struck the hour and Wakko oohed!   
"Survivor's on!" he said as he ran to the TV.   
Yakko and Dot shrugged while Swirls raised a brow.  
"Already a difference." she whispered and headed to sit next to her mirror.   
  
  
Swirls had called Miss Lewis and explained she was sleeping at a friend's house. Francine agreed and that night, bedtime was different for the Warners.  
  
Yakko tucked in Dot, who seemed nearly unresponsive to it all. Yakko sighed a bit and sat down on his sister's bed. "What's wrong Dot?" he asked softly.   
"Am I cuter than she is?" Dot asked softly herself.   
Yakko grinned. "Of course."  
"Am I funnier?" Dot asked again.  
Yakko sighed a bit. "Dot, we're all different, what does it matter?" Dot pouted and turned over so Yakko couldn't see her face.   
"She's going to take my spot." Dot said softly.   
Yakko looked down and then engulfed his little sister in the biggest hug he had ever given her. "No one will ever replace you Dot." Yakko whispered into her ear.   
Dot grinned and hugged Yakko back.   
"I love you Yakko." she said softly, barely audible.  
Yakko pulled back and kissed Dot's cheek.  
"I love you too Dot, now sleep well."   
Dot turned over and fell asleep.   
  
  
Yakko watched as Wakko and Swirls hopped into bed, Wakko on the left, Swirls on the right. Yakko took a look at the two and tried very hard to tell them apart. Both were dressed in blue nightshirts and weren't wearing hats.  
"Well. Goodnight you two." he said hugging Wakko and tucking the sheets in closer. Swirls watched as Yakko left and closed the door.   
~Why didn't he hug me?~ she thought.   
Wakko blinked and turned over and found himself facing Swirls. ~Maybe he doesn't want to get attached yet. In case we don't get you.~ Wakko thought himself.   
Swirls nodded slowly and sniffed as a tear trickled down. Wakko pouted and held his sister as best he could, holding her close. Together, they cried themselves to sleep.   
  
  



	2. The Search

Part II: The Search

Yakko slipped into his own bed, and lay there on his back, staring out the skylight he had in his ceiling. An LAPD chopper flew by and Yakko sighed. Nothing ran through his mind. He just listened to the silence. 

~It's getting harder.~ was his first thought. ~A new member means more food, especially if she eats like Wakko, which means money, which means Plotz, which means...~ Yakko sighed and sat up, looking at his pillow. He gave it a good solid punch.

He sighed and laid against the wall near his bed, pulling his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs and resting his head into the darkness. 

~Where did we just start losing it all?~. 

That night, Yakko didn't sleep.

Wakko had slept. For a while. But his mind was racing with thoughts and wonders. It was ablaze with questions, and so now, the small boy, with his red cap on backwards, sat at the edge of his bed, staring at the wall a few feet in front of him. His face set in a hard thought process as he examined and re-examined his thoughts. He had no clue how long he had been up, but he felt the spot next to him stir and without looking, he knew that his counterpart was propping herself up and proceeding to rub her eyes.

"Wakko?" Swirls whispered, barely audible. Wakko didn't even turn, but it was easy to feel her gently move across the bed and sit next to him. 

"What is it?" she asked, feeling the strong vibe of mixed emotions from him.

Wakko blinked and gave a tiny sigh. Swirls gently placed a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Tell me. What is it?"

"Before this week, all I knew was Yakko and Dot. I knew what was what," he turned to look at the female version of himself, "This week I have had very strong feelings. You and I Swirls, we love each other so much. We're so tied to each other we can read each other's thoughts. If people knew this about us, why did they tear us apart? Why would they do this to us if they knew it would make us so sad?" Wakko seem to plead to his sister. Swirls sniffed a little as a tear rolled down her cheek. She hugged her brother, who of course, hugged her back.

"I don't know. I just don't know. It doesn't make any sense to me either. I always knew there was a part missing."

"I always knew too."

Swirls and Wakko both sighed. Swirls looked at her brother's hat, it would become their signal that one didn't want the other to read the current thoughts.

Wakko looked to his twin and thought. He finally asked,

"You want to go watch TV? Clear our minds?" Swirls giggled as she nodded and the two made their way to the living room.

Even though they had begged for satellite for months, it was eventually Yakko who had to put his foot down and make his siblings realize they didn't have enough money for that. So they were stuck with regular network channels. In the middle of the night, this seemed to work just fine as CBS took to replaying old movies at night with commercials of course.

The twins were currently watching one of the first sound comedies from 1929. A little old picture many had forgotten entitled "The Cocanuts". It happened to star a woman named Margaret Dumont as an old dowager and some oddballs named the Marx Brothers. Even though the picture seemed bad, and the quality of the music worse, it was all in all a sweet movie, if it weren't for the commercials about phone-sex or psychic friends hotline.

Wakko had by now taken off his cap and was snuggling his sister affectionately. He could tells Swirls was tired anyway as she lay her head on his shoulder. Wakko on the other hand had spent months at a time being up all night and was used to most of this.

They had been bored with most of the commercials, but as the movie neared the middle, the commercials began to change. Mainly a commercial suddenly appeared saying, "Lost a loved-one, friend, or relative? Call 1-800-Search-USA and find anyone now!" which made the twins eye the TV oddly.

The movie came back on, with more cute scenes and then another slew of commercials, mainly a Public Service Announcement they repeated about the virtues of family values, showing moms and dads playing with their kids and doing things together and...being a family. The emptiness was getting harder to ignore. Wakko looked at Swirls and thought, 

~Are they trying to torture us?~ 

Swirls looked up, without actually saying a word. 

~Wakko, what are we going to do? I feel so sad now. Will we ever find out what went wrong?~ 

~ Yes. ~ Wakko said to try and reassure his sister, but the strong feeling of doubt only reassured Swirls that they might never truly know. 

They cuddled together, a little more tightly than before, and started to cry, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms. 

It was still dark as Yakko looked at the red LED lights that sat on his desk. It was 4:20am, but he felt as if it were 9:26am. He sighed and headed out of his room, making his way through the tower, heading for the kitchen, when he saw the glow of the television on. Raising a brow, he headed over towards the TV, planning to turn it off.

He looked towards the couch and noticed Wakko lying face down, his arms underneath him. 

"Wakko?" Yakko whispered softly. 

Wakko stirred, only to show that Swirls was next to him, shivering and huddled close to both her twin and the side of the couch. Yakko blinked, grabbed the heavy quilt and laid it over the two. He turned of the TV and watched the cloth for a moment. Nothing stirred.

Yakko went into the kitchen, pouring himself a small glass of soymilk. He sighed, wondering if stress caused him to be lactose intolerant or if it was just some other crazy fact. He sipped at the milk as he walked back to where the covered twins were.

~I hope they aren't dead.~ he morbidly wondered. 

He rolled his eyes and grinned softly to himself. 

Yakko walked up to the bundle and gently poked it. Listening carefully, he heard nothing, but watched as it stirred. He smiled a bit, and poked it again. It stirred some more. Yakko proceeded to poke the bundle, and the bundle proceeded to stir.

Finally, the top half of the blanket flipped over and two heads popped up, one angry, the other curious and Yakko had given up on telling them apart.

"What was that for?" they asked in unison. 

"Go to bed." he commanded gently. 

"You're up." Wakko asked. 

Thank god their voices were different. 

"I was getting a drink. You two were watching TV and violating curfew for all I know." Both of them shook their head, 

"We were sleeping." Swirls replied.

Yakko grinned, 

"Well, now you can go back to it." 

"Why? We'll be up in another couple of minutes." Wakko replied. 

Yakko thought for a moment and said, 

"I'm letting everyone sleep in today. I didn't get any sleep myself."

The twins looked curious, hoping to receive a better explanation, but as silence passed, they both shrugged, stood and headed for their room. Yakko watched and then hopped onto the couch. He sat his glass on the coffee table, pulled up the quilt and slipped into slumber land.

"Maybe he died from over Soy intake. Ooh! Or maybe he died watching all those phone sex commercials...or better yet--"

"Maybe I didn't die at all." Yakko said drowsily as he sat up and peered directly into the eyes of his youngest sibling. Dot smiled. Yakko raised a brow and wondered what really went through his sister's head. Dot, mean while, hopped onto the sofa next to her brother and cuddled up to him a bit. It was rather cold in the tower and currently the only warm thing in the room was that giant quilt that was around Yakko. Knowing the drastic chill of the morning, Yakko wrapped his arms around his sister and looked at the blank TV screen. 

"What time is it?" he asked. Dot blinked and looked at the kitty cat clock on the wall.

"9:34." she responded. Yakko blinked.

"9:34?!" he chuckled after his quick moment of surprise. "People _must_ think we're dead. We've usually destroyed a small country by now."

"Can't we take a day off for once? Just once? Do things for ourselves and not our reputation." Dot asked as she tried to secretly take the quilt from her brother one piece at a time. Yakko blinked and pulled away from his sister, looking at her in horror.

"Reputation is everything my dearest sibling! If it wasn't for reputation would Groucho Marx be known as the master of words? Would Harpo be known as a woman chaser?" and then raising a brow and giving a grin, "Would your brother be known as a lady killer?" Dot rolled her eyes.

"You put too much faith in yourself." Dot muttered.

"On the contrary, I just have a rather large ego. Faith has nothing to do with it. And don't start with confidence!" Yakko said, still feeling rather proud of himself. Dot shrugged and noticed that for a few minutes all was silent. She looked down the hall to where the bedrooms lay and found complete darkness.

"I wonder if the twins are up." Dot whispered softly, her face turning into a look of curiosity that matched her age. Yakko looked down the hall as well.

"Go wake them up if you want them up." he whispered back. Dot shuddered.

"They're weird. They're always trying to be like...physically attached to each other as if it would kill them if they were apart."

"Look at it their way Dot. They've been separated for our nearly 70 years of living. They didn't know about each other at all and then suddenly out of the wild blue their whole lives change. Twins are horribly close to each other. Most of the time they just develop their own language." Yakko tried explaining. 

"But isn't that only for...well..." Dot trailed off as Yakko shook his head.

"It can be for any set of twins Dot."

"So then why don't they have their own language?"

"They have telepathy. Their separation must have caused them to mentally need each other as well." Dot shrugged and cuddled up into the quilt she had easily stolen from her brother. Yakko sighed, having forgotten the blanket. He couldn't worry about the twins at a constant rate. They would be fine. Swirls wouldn't cause any problems and Wakko would show her the ropes. Either that or she'd find out quickly. Yakko sighed, stood, and took a glance at the clock. 9:43. It was time all of them were up. As he walked by the couch though, he saw Dot curled under the green quilt, sleeping. 

~Maybe we do need a day off. ~ he thought as he walked down the hall.

"And what are we doing today oh great wonderful brother of ours?" Dot asked as she sat at the kitchen table. 

"Throw out ideas." he said.

"We want to find out why we were separated." Swirls said, unsure if this idea would be accepted, but still keeping up a show of bravery. Yakko raised a brow, but said nothing. 

"We think we were separated for a reason." Wakko added. Yakko couldn't help but grin at the two. The two looked so eager, desperately hoping they would be approved to go off and look. Yakko shrugged.

"Why not. I'd actually like to know myself. Did you guys have an idea of where you want to look first?" The twins looked between each other, unsure of how to answer. To be honest, they hadn't thought ahead that far. Dot rolled her eyes.

"This only proves I was born first." she mumbled. Yakko shot Dot a "look" and then looked at the twins who stood there looking as if some God might smite them at any moment. Yakko smiled warmly. "Who do you think might know about this?" he asked gently. The twins looked to each other and thought for a moment. 

"Perhaps we could ask Father Jerome." Swirls suggested. "He survived the fire that the nuns died in."

"And where would he be?" Dot asked.

Swirls looked embarrassed for a moment and looked at the ground. "I-I don't know." she said softly, hoping she could avoid being looked at somehow.

"Well, this is going nowhere fast." Dot mumbled.

Swirls shot Dot a look this time. ~Why is she always so critical of everything?~ she thought. Only this time Wakko couldn't answer since their hats were on.

Yakko tried to ignore the looks between Swirls and Dot. "Well, do you know his last name? Perhaps where he moved after the fire?"

Swirls thought and then grinned. "Miss Lewis would keep it in her office, in the file cabinet. She was close to the people at Church."

Yakko thought himself this time. "You and Wakko go find out about this Jerry guy. Dot and I will go to the news reels here at the studio and see if we can find anything. We'll meet back here at 2:30."

The four agreed and split up.

Yakko and Dot stood before the large building that proclaimed "Archive" in gold paint across the beige building. 

"We are entering a dimension of sight and sound." Yakko said in his Twilight Zone impression.

"Uh, Yakko, these are news reels from the 30's. The only sound is narration." 

"Oh, pardon me Miss Politically Correct." Yakko sneered as they entered the building.

The building was practically empty in the first half. A large, white, air-conditioned room with a marble floor and a woman sitting behind a desk. This woman was Penelope Eclaire, or so her desk tag read. Her desk was a large rosewood that was filled with papers, manila envelopes and pencils. The woman herself was of short stature, probably only 5'5" in height with light brown hair that was piled into a high bun. She wore gold-rimmed glasses and one of those pink skirt suits. Her blue eyes were currently concentrating on a piece of badly scrawled binder paper, but as she looked up and spotted Yakko Warner, she gasped. Not out of fear, but of delight and tried so hard not to swoon. The woman had had a crush on the Warner ever since she had first seen him at the studio, five years ago when she had just been employed to keep the archives. He had come to terrorize her, but instead she fell passionately in love with the boy. She didn't know if the boy shared her love, but he flirted with her whenever they had a moment to speak and now, now he had come! 

Penelope smoothed out her desk, trying to arrange papers into order. She smoothed out her clothes, hoping to ease out the wrinkles, and then waited like a polite schoolgirl for this teacher to enthrall her with his studies. Yakko, knowing quite well of Penelope's crush, played it to a tee. He sauntered up to the desk with his little sister in tow and then leaned on the edge and peered into her baby blue's. He gave her a seductive smile and she melted at it all.

"Hello Yakko." she said softly, praying that he would just breathe on her. 

"Why Miss Eclaire, I do declare, Penelope is quite so fair." he said in a low purring type voice, knowing that a simple line like this could make Penelope melt into a glass of water. She let out a deep breath.

"What can I do for you Yakko?" she asked, trying so hard to compose herself. 

"What can't you do?" he asked softly so his sister couldn't hear as he waggled his eyebrows. The look on Penelope's face, the one that said touch me and I'll faint into orgasmic splendor, reminded Yakko not to overdo it. Penelope let out another deep breath and said slowly, 

"Anything. Any time. Any day. Anywhere. But I am sure that is not why you have come." Yakko raised a brow, 

"Oh? And what makes you think that?" he asked. 

"Well, you did bring your sister." Penelope replied as she looked over Yakko's shoulder.

Yakko blinked and looked over his own shoulder to see Dot, arms crossed in front of her chest, right foot tapping, and anger on her face. Yakko turned back to Penelope and resumed seductive stance. 

"Well, you are quite good at deducing Miss Eclaire. I have come for another reason. Perhaps you can let me have a little peak at the news reels for 1929 and 1930?" he asked. 

Penelope sighed. 

"I can't Yakko. Those are serious reels and can only be viewed if you're planning to restore them." 

Yakko frowned for a moment as his brain quickly worked to figure out how to get past this small problem. He then resumed his seductive smile and gently placed that velvet gloved hand on her cheek and traced her jaw, looking deep into Penelope's eyes. Their noses almost touching.

"Penelope," Yakko purred low, daring, "I need to see those films. Please, let me see them." he tried not to sound like he was begging, and it worked.

Penelope looked into his dark round eyes and her own eyes widened. It was like looking into the Elysian Fields. She closed her eyes as his hand traced her jaw and shuddered hard, letting out a soft gasp, a low moan. When her eyes opened, she found them once again staring into those dark eyes of Yakko. She nodded gently, completely wrapped around his finger. If he had asked her to jump off the Empire State Building, she would have done it.

Yakko smiled, pleased with his results and kissed the corner of Penelope's mouth. 

"Thanks Nelly." he said as he all of a sudden disappeared from her line of view. 

She realized that he was all ready walking behind her, giving a quick wave as he and his sister entered the archive. But this thought was only for a moment before she realized he had kissed her. Her eyes then rolled up and into the back of her head as her body fell limp against the chair.

As Wakko and Swirls approached Francine's house, Swirls stopped and quickly grabbed her hat from off her head and tied her ears together with a green ribbon. 

"What are you doing?" asked Wakko. 

"Francine will wonder why we look alike. This'll distract her."

Wakko blinked, still a bit confused. "How?" he asked.

"She always sees me with my hat. She'll wonder where it has gone and won't be looking at us. She thinks if she looks at the air around us, she'll find it."

Wakko shrugged. Ever since they had met there was an unspoken agreement between the two of them. Never question the other's knowledge. They knew that with time, they would find out the reason for the other's explanation.

Swirls slowly opened the door and entered, her mirror following. The coast was clear and slowly, the two quickly walked to the office.

"Wakko, take off your hat." Swirls whispered as she headed to the file cabinet. 

As Wakko did, Swirls added, 

~Be my lookout.~ 

Wakko nodded and stood at the door peering down the hallway, watching for Miss Lewis. Swirls on the other hand went through the file cabinet, searching for anything on Cathedral, Church or Father Jerome. Her fingers didn't move fast, but her eyes did. 

Wakko on the other hand began to hear steps, and then humming, and finally a blue dress.

~Swirls! Look--~ 

"Uh...Hello Little Boy." Francine asked as she stood before Wakko. 

Wakko smiled and slowly slipped his hat back on. He gave a small wave and watched as Francine's eyesight looked over Wakko and at Swirls. Wakko twirled around to see Swirls standing there. The file cabinet closed and her hands before her. 

"Yes Miss Lewis?" Swirls asked as if nothing was wrong.

"I didn't hear you come in. Why are you in my office?" Francine asked. 

"I needed a pen." Swirls reached over to the desk and grabbed a black ink pen. "Got one." she said simply. 

Francine shrugged and looked down to Wakko who only stared at Swirls. Francine shrugged and walked off. 

When Francine had disappeared, Wakko ran up to Swirls, 

"You didn't find anything?" he asked almost feeling downtrodden at the thought they had failed. Swirls smiled proudly and slowly brought her foot forward and up. Stuck between her toes was a file folder and she picked it up. 

"I found all we needed."

NewsReel of the Stars! Dateline, Hollywood, 1929. Warner Brothers is still working frantically, trying to come up with a saving grace for their Buddy cartoons which are quickly going out of style. To help with their dilling peccadillo, the studio has called on Lon Borax who has promised the Warners that they will soon have new costars for their Buddy cartoons. Good luck Warners and good luck Mr. Borax!

Yakko and Dot sat in the dark viewing room as they watched screen images of Lon Borax sitting at an Animator's chair drawing various shapes that looked like nothing. Then they watched as the picture flipped off and the newsreel stopped. They had come to the end of the reel of '29 and still, there seemed to be no hope in site. Yakko sighed and changed reels. Going from '29 to '30. He flipped the machine on again and watched as numbers counted down to where the film would start.

NewsReel of the Stars! Dateline, Hollywood, March Second 1930. Lon Borax, Saviour of the Buddy Cartoons has been put into the Los Alamos Asylum. Warner Brothers disavow any knowledge of this, but other close sources claim the truth. The toon saviours of the Buddy cartoons are none other than Yakko, Wakko and Dot. Having been causing chaos since two fifty-eight this morning. Security for Warner Brothers and the Police of Burbank have had no luck so far in catching the Warner Brothers and their sister. If not caught soon, who knows what will happen!

The film dimmed out and Yakko stopped the reel as Dot turned to him, 

"Yakko...I thought we were born on February 31st." she asked, confused.

"There is no February 31st Dot. Lon had no concept of time, either then or now. All records have officially recorded us as being 'born' on March second 1930." Yakko replied.

Dot ohed and seeing that his sister was satisfied with his explanation, he changed reels again. There was still plenty of film left, but he was tired of hearing stuff he could remember. He wanted to grab the one thing he hardly remembered at all.

Picking up another reel, he once again placed it into the projection machine and turned the machine on.

NewsReel of the Stars! Dateline Hollywood 1934. The Warners have been caught! Details on their arrest are still sketchy, but we can tell you that they have been locked into the Warner Brother studio tower, never to be released. As for the films the Warners made, they too have been locked up in the studio vaults. Those will never be released as well. In other news, St. Catherine's of the Holy Child was burned to the ground this morning. Investigators believe the fire was on---

Yakko paused the reel as the clips of St. Catherine's of the Holy Child appeared on the screen. 

"What is it Yakko?" Dot asked curiously. 

"That's the Church Swirls said she had lived at." Yakko said, studying the picture. He could see nothing except an ornate Roman Catholic Church.

Dot examined the picture too. 

"All I see is a church." she said, confused. 

Yakko slowly advanced the reel and the next shot was of police and detectives surrounding the burned area and ashes littering the ground. He slowly advanced the film, but that was all. It went on to talk about the Marx Brothers and the impending war in Germany.

Yakko's face was obviously set in deep thought. His brows were furrowed and his nose was crinkled. 

"Something is rotten in Burbank sister sibling and I think that this time we have to find out."

"But why?" Dot asked.

"Because if we don't. We might all be in danger."

Swirls and Wakko had made their way through the house and were now sitting at the curb of the street, pouring over the information on Father Jerome.

Swirls read aloud, 

"Father Jerome Benson, 92 in the year 2000. Currently residing at the Nazareth House in Los Angeles, California."

The paper then proceeded to give an address. Swirls and Wakko looked to each other. "We should go tell the others." they said in unison. 

They rolled their eyes and Swirls replaced her own green cap on her head as they stood up and made their way home. 

As Yakko and Dot came out of the screening room, they saw Penelope fanning herself with a Chinese paper fan. Her glasses were off and the top of her blouse, the first three buttons, were open, unprofessionally. Yakko raised a brow. 

"Nelly?" he asked curiously.

Nelly smiled bashfully and replaced her glasses as she set the fan down and buttoned her blouse. 

"It got hot in here." she explained, her face red.

"The air conditioner's on." Yakko said, brow still raised. 

Nelly blinked, 

"Is it?" she asked, not even realizing it. 

"Of course it is! It's freezing in here! It was warmer in the screening room!" Dot complained.

Nelly shrugged off Dot, and her eyes turned to Yakko. 

"Did you get the information you needed?" she asked him. 

Yakko walked closer to Penelope, but was all business now.

"What can you find me on the fire of St. Catherine's in 1934?" he asked her.

Nelly blinked and shrugged. Obviously he had had enough of the flirting and she could deal with that...hopefully. 

"Not much. Why? What's so important about it?" she asked as she returned to the paper work on her desk.

"I'm not sure, but as it stands now, a lot. I need all the info you can give me Nelly." Yakko said as he came around the desk to watch her write on a piece of binder paper. Dot followed, but kept her distance.

Nelly shrugged and continued with her paperwork. She just knew the moment she looked up her mind would fail her. 

"I could get you info in two days from now." she replied.

Normally anything like this would be fine with Yakko, but this situation had become horribly serious the moment he had seen that newsreel.

"Nelly, I need the info by tonight." 

"When I get around to it." she muttered softly.

Yakko balled his fists and let the anger rush through him. Why was it that anytime he wanted something important done he was always denied it. He sighed the anger out and composed himself. 

He placed his velvet-gloved hand under Penelope's jaw and lifted her head up, only to see her eyes closed tightly. He grinned warmly at this. The woman knew he was up to his tricks, but she would not get away from him that easily.

"Nelly," he whispered, gently, softly, warmly, "Let me see those pretty eyes of yours." and not being able to resist his rich warm voice, Penelope's eyes slowly opened so it seemed as if Yakko was staring into the ocean and she was staring into an abyss.

"Nelly, sweetheart, I need that information as soon as possible. It is very important information and if I don't get it, something very bad might happen to me. You don't want something bad to happen to me, do you?" he asked softly.

Nelly shook her head gently, even though Yakko's hand still cupped the bottom of her face.

"Then Nelly, I need that information. Can you get that info for me, please?" he asked. Nelly nodded gently again. Yakko smiled warmly, as if talking to a child and then slowly kissed Penelope's soft lips.

Nelly's head swam and she felt her whole body melt as his lips pressed against hers. It was pure Elysian bliss as his lips seem to convey everything she could ever imagine in anything. She felt that the moment this kiss would break, she would die and prayed that it would last forever.

Yakko on the other hand couldn't believe he was kissing a girl without having to quickly pull away, being forced off, or slapped to death. He never knew Nelly was actually this crazy for him and just as they were about to have the kiss go a little deeper, a little more passionate, someone's throat was being cleared and the two pulled away to look over Yakko's shoulder and see Dot once again standing there with her arms folded across her chest, her right foot tapping and her face plastered with anger.

Penelope blushed and looked down at the desk. Yakko sighed and rolled his eyes heavenwards, making a mental note to himself not to bring Dot the next time. 

Yakko sighed a bit. Dang, he had really liked that kiss, and boy, he meant _really liked_. He turned to the still blushing Penelope and gave her a boyish grin. 

"Info tonight," and then his mind quickly switched back and forth. Meet her here, have her come to the tower? But knowing the only right choice he continued with, 

"Bring it up to the tower as soon as possible." 

Nelly nodded without looking at him and feeling his heart dying to stay with her Yakko turned around and left with Dot in a disapproving tow.

When Dot and Yakko got back to the tower, Swirls and Wakko were all ready at the kitchen table, still pouring over the information on Father Jerome.

"I see you guys came up with better than we did." Dot said, traces of anger in her voice as she headed to flop down on the couch. 

Yakko, the normally quick thinker with a cool head, found his own mind swimming, hooked on Penelope Eclaire and not at the task at hand, but he tried to get a sentence out, "You found the stuff on Jerry?" ...yeah, that sounded like a sentence.

Swirls just nodded, trying to commit all the information on Jerome to memory while Wakko acted as twin delegate. 

"Yeah, and Swirls made a quick save when we were spotted by Miss Lewis." he responded.

Yakko raised a brow, his head instantly cleared by the thought that they could have been caught, 

"But everything went well?" he asked.

The twins nodded in unison, once again, both trying to commit information to memory.

Yakko plopped into his own chair, the La-Z-Boy and watched as Dot sat on the large couch, flipping through a Seventeen Magazine.

Yakko looked at Dot and knew her attitude. The flipping of her magazine was quick and fast. She was only looking through it to blow off steam. He would wait it out. Maybe the steam would evaporate, or maybe it would congeal and have her leave the room in a fit. He knew the last one would be the definite.

Swirls and Wakko were as content as could be with the folder they had and Yakko knew all he had to do was worry about Dot. And Dot gave him plenty to worry about. 

"That's it! I'm going to my room!" Dot shouted as she slid off the couch and stomped to her room. Swirls and Wakko watched, amazed and stunned at the outburst. Yakko tried to keep from grinning. It was nice to be right all the time. When Dot couldn't be seen anymore, Yakko stood and followed his youngest sister as the twins resumed memorizing the info.

The pink door to Dot's room was closed, but there was no outward sign stating she didn't want to be bothered, which Yakko took as being a good thing and so he gently rapped at the door. 

"Dot?" he asked softly.

There was no answer and he slowly opened the door. The room was dark except for a little night light near the corner that always shined. Truth be told, there were no windows at all in the tower save for the skylight in Yakko's room and the stained glass window of Weed Memlo in the living room. Still, with the night-light, he could make out Dot's body sitting on her canopy bed. Knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. 

A tear glistened in the soft light and as Yakko entered, he closed the door behind him.

Dot peered at Yakko from the corner of her eyes, anger and hate showing in those eyes. "Go away." she whispered harshly.

Yakko stopped in his tracks, but wasn't stung by the comment. He knew that this time, Dot's emotions were real.

Seeing that her brother had stopped advancing, she returned to staring straight ahead at the pink wallpaper of her room. Yakko took another step forward. 

"You wanna talk?" he asked softly, gently, knowing this was thin ice.

Dot didn't answer and Yakko took a deep breath and in the most sincere sweetest voice he said, 

"Dottie, talk to me." 

Dot lifted her head, her eyes widened in horror and a flood of tears burst from her eyes and down her cheeks and she began to sob uncontrollably.

Yakko quickly engulfed Dot into a hug, sitting down on her bed and rocking her gently. "Shh," he began, "it's all right." he said as he smoothed out the fur on the back of her head. "What's wrong?" he whispered. "Talk to me. What's wrong?" but Dot continued to cry, snuggling closer to her brother all the time.

Yakko just wrapped her up in the tightest hug he could manage and tried to soothe her until the crying would subside.

After a moment she pulled away just enough so if she talked her voice wouldn't be muffled.

"What am I Yakko? What am I?" she asked as she returned to burying her head in his chest.

Yakko blinked and smiled a bit.

"You're cute." but this only seemed to have more tears be brought forth from the little one.

Yakko blinked. This took him aback. Something was definitely wrong now and this only proved it. Finally pulling away again Dot whispered,

"I'm the Zeppo. I'm the Zeppo and...I'm worthless and going to be kicked out of the family!" she cried out before returning her head once again to her brother's chest.

Yakko blinked. 

"Where did you ever get an idea like that?" he asked, stunned and almost angered.

Dot finally sat up, away from her protector and wiped the tears from her eyes. 

"I hear it around the studio sometimes. I hear people saying that I'm the Zeppo and that someday they'll get rid of me and replace me. And now...now Swirls is here and she's going to replace me!" and not being able to take it, for a third time Dot sought protection in the hug of her older brother and received it.

Yakko now stared hard at the pink wallpaper as he protected his sister from the harsh reality of the world. 

"You're none of that Dot. Don't listen to them. They don't know you. We could never get rid of you. Swirls or no Swirls. You are family. You were with us from day one. Never think you are Zeppo. Never. He was just as important to the group as you are to us." with his hand, Yakko lifted Dot's face up by her chin, gently. Her tear stained eyes looking into his, 

"Always remember Dot, we love you. Even if the studio doesn't, family _always_ will."

Dot forced a smile onto her lips and Yakko smiled back which only made Dot smile genuine this time as she hugged Yakko. 

"Thank you." she whispered.

Yakko smiled. 

"Think you can face the real world again? Or do you need time alone?" 

Dot pulled back and nodded. 

"I can face it." she responded confidently. 

The two re-entered the family room only to see the twins smiling happily as Swirls closed the folder with the info on Jerome.

"Find anything interesting?" Yakko asked as he approached them.

"How soon can we get to L.A.?" Swirls asked.

"L.A. is right next door!" Dot replied. She wondered if Swirls was really smart but just hid the fact.

"The Nazareth House is in L.A. and that's where Father Jerome lives nowadays. I'm sure he can help us find out why we were split up." Swirls said excitedly. 

Yakko nodded. "Sounds like a plan." he said absent-mindly as he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, beginning to write something. "What's that for?" Wakko asked as everyone peered over the eldest brother's shoulder.

"A note. To tape to the door. Penelope is bringing some info for us and I don't want us to miss it." he said as he dotted an i and finished the note. The twins just shrugged, never having heard of the woman before, but Dot rolled her eyes. "I bet you just don't want to miss Penelope." she muttered. Yakko took the advantage of ignoring that remark.

As they headed out the door, Yakko duct taped the note to the tower door and paused to look it over quickly. As he looked it over he wondered if he was getting too sentimental. She was just another woman in the great big world who knew him for his reputation. That of a teen-age boy, a rebel without a cause. He turned and found his siblings all ready half way down to the ground and caught up with them. After all this was over, he'd have plenty of time

The Nazareth House could easily be described as this: when a religious higher up, such as a priest from a church got too old to take care of themselves, a parish could send them to the Nazareth House which happily took care of the priests until their death.

Father Jerome was 92 and could feed himself, but it was hard to get around these days and harder still to do most things himself. So when he had broken his hip in 1995, St. Anne's of the Blessed Mother sent Father Jerome to the Nazareth House. 

Now, some would see this as a death sentence, but to Father Jerome it was just another step in life. He still got to go out and see the beauty of the earth, he still got fed and he had his health. There was nothing wrong with any of it.

But the least he had ever expected was to see the baby girl from St. Catherine's of the Holy Child again. And when the nurse brought in the Warner Four, Father Jerome blinked and nearly had a heart attack.

Father Jerome quickly put his thick glasses on and peered at Swirls. 

"Dymphna? Is that you?" he asked in a wheezy voice. 

Swirls placed her hands over her mouth to silence the giggle that came from her as Yakko, Wakko and Dot looked at her in confusion.

"Yes, it's me Father. How are you?" Swirls asked as she approached the old man and hugged him.

"I'm doing quite well, but you! You've seem to just grow up! Why, I remember when you were just a bitty thing with no memory." he began. 

Swirls smiled and motioned for her siblings to come closer, which they did.

"It has been nearly 70 years Father." Swirls noted for the old man, "But I have come for a reason. How good is your memory of 70 years ago?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't shot my bolt yet, and it's a little rusty, but in tact. Tell me, what do you need help remembering?" he asked as he settled back into his bed.

"The fire of 1934. Of St. Catherine's." Swirls said softly, but loud enough so the old priest could hear her. 

Jerry blinked.

"You don't want help remembering that. Let's talk about when you frightened--" 

"Please, Father this is important. It would mean a lot to me if you could help." Swirls pleaded.

Jerome sighed.

"You'll only get as much as I can remember."

"Anything. Anything at all." Swirls urged him on.

Jerome began to weave the semi-historical tale:

It was 1934. Summer of that year I think. A beautiful summer too. Of course, there was the Depression and the rumour that war was brewing in Europe, but the weather of that day was so immaculate you'd never imagine there was a thing wrong. 

There was a slight breeze in the air, just enough to move the fluffy clouds across the light azure sky. The trees were green and the leaves blew in that wind. People rode their bikes up and down the street. The nuns were all in the Sacred Chapel saying their afternoon rosary. I was preparing for Vespers and the new Deacon, Thomas his name, was watching you play outside. Everything seemed to be so slow going and normal when suddenly Thomas ran into the church and whispered to me that you were missing. Fearing for your life I grabbed Sister Mary and the three of us went searching for you, thinking you had made your way back into the church. I don't remember much after that. Bits and pieces. The Mother screaming that a fire had started, panic ensuing. Everyone was running about and I was searching for you. I remember being so close to the fire. It was so hot. The Devil's fire was what a few of the nuns claimed it was before their death. I found you in a corner, crying and picking you up we somehow made it. Sister Mary was outside, crying and praying to the Lord for help. We watched it burn to the ground. All those lives, lost. I don't remember anything after that.

The tale was over as Father Jerome rubbed his glasses with a handkerchief. Swirls in the arms of her twin having barely remember the day. Dot and Yakko looked to the ground as if showing some sort of reverence for those whose lives were lost. 

"The next day investigators said that they thought the fire had been started on purpose. But no one wanted to believe some one would want to burn down a church, so the case was closed and they marked it up to some sort of accident." Jerry concluded.

Yakko dared to speak.

"What do you believe Father Jerome?" 

Jerome replaced the glasses on his face and smiled a bit. 

"I believe if it was done on purpose, then God will judge those who committed the crime. And if it was an accident, then perhaps God had some divine mystery behind it. That's what large parts of religion are. Just mysticism. If everything was always answered for us, the world might not be what it is today." then after a moment Jerry chuckled and said, "We might all just be a planet full of animals and plants, going about our lives in a Utopia. I find that this life is much better than that idea. More interesting." he said, and on the last part, tapped the side of his head.

Swirls smiled and once again hugged Father Jerry. 

"Thank you father, for your help. Is...is Sister Mary still alive?" she dared to ask. Father Jerome smiled. 

"Still alive? My dear! That woman does triathlons for a living! She left the sister-hood in the 60's and married, but had a split with her husband in the 80's. She takes care of her mother nowadays and baby-sits her grand-daughter."

"Where could we find her?" Yakko asked, curious to meet a nun who had left the sisterhood.

"Oh, I've heard she lives in Culver City now, but I'm not too sure. If you ask the nurse at the desk she might know."

The group headed for the door, but before they left Father Jerome had one more thing to say. 

"You know, Dymphna, you and that boy with the red hat look an awful lot alike. You two aren't twins, are ya?" 

Swirls just smiled, 

"We aren't sure yet Father Jerome, but we'll let you know." and as they left, the sound of Father Jerome's jolly chuckle reverberated down the walls of the hallway.

When they got to the front desk, the nurse happily gave Swirls the phone number of Mary's apartment and the use of the phone, but upon calling Mary they received an answering machine. 

"Hi! You have reached 545-6391, unfortunately I am in Alaska for the month on a bike ride. Hope to hear from you then!" then there was the beep and Swirls hung up. 

"Well?" asked Wakko hopefully.

"She's in Alaska for the month." she said downtroddenly, her twin taking on the same look. 

Yakko gave them a smile. 

"Have no fear mirror sibs, I'm sure the lovely Penelope of the Archives has surely found something for us." he tried to cheer them up. Wakko and Swirls did smile and the four left to return home and wait for Penelope.

Upon returning home, the bottom of Yakko's note had been added to in a script none of them had seen before. 'Yakko, call me. Important info. 555-6213' was the message. Lightly pulling the paper off from the door so it wouldn't rip, Yakko stuffed the note in his pocket as they opened the door and headed inside. While the rest of them turned on lights and argued about dinner, Yakko headed to his room.

He closed the door to his room and grabbed the portable phone from his desk, punching in the number as he flopped onto his bed.

The phone rang twice before it picked up. 

"Hello?" asked a woman's voice. It was soft and had the hints of fear in it. 

"Hi." Yakko replied, trying to sound friendly. 

"Yakko, is that you?" the woman asked, and placing recognition, he realized he was talking to Penelope.

"Yeah, it's me. What did you find Nelly?" he asked gently. 

She sounded scared and Yakko had watched plenty of movies where fear voiced phone conversations usually meant trouble. But this wasn't the case and as soon as Yakko verified it was him, Nelly's voice sounded relaxed. 

"Mainly a lot of rumors, but some good hard facts on the fire. Do you want me to bring them to you or tell you over the phone?" she asked.

Why was this woman always asking him for his ideas? In Yakko's mind, both choices sounded equally yummy. Hear her confident voice over the phone and imagine her in a negligee telling him important facts, or have her come over here in that pink skirt suit and cuddle him in her arms while she whispered in his ears the info. Or perhaps it was just his hormonal fantastical mind running away with him. 

"Which would you prefer?" he decided to ask as he realized his breathing was dangering near shallow. 

"How about I come over there so your brother and sister can hear it as well." she asked. Drats! He lived with other people! 

"Sounds great!" he said, his voice just a note higher than normal. 

"I'll see you in a few moments then." and without a good-bye, Penelope hung up. 

Yakko turned the phone off and sat there for a moment, realizing a woman was voluntarily coming up to the tower so she could talk to him. He closed his eyes and let the feeling of hopeful pleasure rush through his body and smiled. Then he realized once again he had siblings and chanted in his head, _I will not get involved, I will not get involved._ If only those darn teenage hormones would settle down. He replaced the phone on the desk, 

opened the door and headed out to the living room.

"Wakko, sat an extra place at the table. Penelope is coming over."

When the door opened, Penelope found a smiling Yakko in his trademark khaki pants greeting her.

"Please Miss Eclaire, won't you come in? Have you eaten? We were just about to have dinner." he said as she walked in. Penelope placed her purse near the door and looked around. She had never been in the tower before. In fact, the idea of coming into the tower was something of a dream for her. It all just seemed so cozy and...warm. Almost, family oriented. She never dreamed it would look so nice. She realized though that her pumps clicked against the concrete floor and when she looked to Yakko she found he noticed too. He smiled when he found her gaze on him. 

"You can take them off." he commented, and bashfully Nelly slipped them off and placed them near her purse.

She noted that the air was rather warm and almost stifling in a way. If one was claustrophobic, this place would surely cause them to panic, but for her it only seem to add an air of interest. She followed Yakko to the living room where a small dinette table sat. It was in perfect condition and looked exactly as if it were from the 60's. 

She examined the table finding that since she was invited there were five chairs at the table instead of the three she was expecting to see. Milk had been poured for the five place settings and water sat at one with the milk. The plates were white and the silverware had dark blue plastic handles. It all seemed so...family-ish. 

It was as if this place was just full of surprises. Everyone always thought that the Warners were just a bunch of kids, but from what she had seen so far, that was just their demeanor, their nature seemed to prove that they were highly family oriented. She couldn't help but just feeling...odd, as if evading on sacred ground. 

"You sit there." said an outside voice, which interrupted her thoughts.

Nelly blinked and found Yakko pointing to the side of the table where one chair had been placed. She blushed and sat down at her assigned seat as she found Dot coming out of the kitchen with a green bowl full of rice.

"Wakko made the Gumbo spicy again just to warn you." Dot said, not even realizing Penelope was sitting at the table. Yakko sighed. 

"Didn't you try to reason with him?" 

"How could I? Swirls was agreeing with him!"

Yakko stifled a chuckle as he sat down at the head of the table. Dot placed the bowl of rice in the center of the table and sat at her spot, which was across from Yakko's. After only a few moments, the twins walked out and Penelope found herself letting a small gasp escape from her.

Three Warners she had always known about, but a fourth one? And no less a twin? Now it really didn't seem real and she found herself expecting their parents to come out of nowhere. But the gasp went unnoticed as the twins set the large bowl of Gumbo near the rice. 

"After arguing with each other, we've decided that the Gumbo is only mild, and not super Cajun spicy like Wakko wanted. I hope that you all enjoy." Swirls announced as the two took their seats side by side across from Nelly. 

Dot and Yakko looked relieved as the two began to eat. After reassuring herself all of this really was happening, Nelly began to eat as well.

Dinner was silent and Nelly noticed Yakko avoiding all eye contact with her. Part of her wondered if she had done something wrong. Occasionally the hatless twins giggled as they ate and Dot looked as if she would attempt conversation, but seeing Yakko's seriousness, decided against it. Nelly was a guest and probably privileged to be invited to such a dinner and so, she too kept quiet, but was curious as to why the twins were giggling. 

Nelly hadn't felt any tension grow, but suddenly Yakko placed his spoon down and looked to the twins, his stare hard at them.

"Would you two like to share? Or will I be forced to staple those hats to your heads?" he asked. 

Dot blinked and looked up, surprised at hearing such a disciplined tone come from her eldest brother. Swirls and Wakko blinked as they looked at Yakko and then to each other. 

The twins looked back to Yakko. Finally Wakko spoke,

"We were jus' wonderin' if the gumbo was too spicy." 

"I think it's delicious. Did the both of you make it?" Nelly piped up quickly, trying to soften the suddenly heated conversation. The twins nodded, smiling proudly, and Yakko couldn't help but give a small grin. 

"We had parts of the recipe memorized, but neither of us knew the full recipe," Swirls began, 

"But we found that if we took the parts each of us knew, then we had the recipe in whole." Wakko finished. 

Nelly smiled, 

"Together you two make very good cooks." The twins smiled once again and in unison replied, 

"Thank you." 

The rest of the dinner was silent.

When dinner was over, Swirls and Wakko washed the dishes while Dot helped clear the table. Obviously there would be no desert. Yakko led Nelly to the family room and sat next to her on the couch. 

"I'd offer coffee but..." he trailed off and Nelly nodded with a grin. 

"I understand." 

Yakko kept a polite sitting distance from Nelly. The recommended six inches everyone always suggested.

"So, about the information..." Yakko tried to help begin a conversation and found Nelly scooting closer to him.

"1934 was an awful busy and complicated year. There was the Depression, the Dust Bowl, war rumors. Why does the burning of a church interest you?" Nelly asked. 

Yakko looked down and found only two inches of green upholstery separating his thigh from hers. He realized she was making most of the moves and found himself closing the gap and finding the pink skirt of her suit pressed against his khaki pants. He felt her thigh against his under the material. 

"Well, it's not really for me," he began, finding his breathing shallow. "It's for the twins. You see, the church that burnt, that was where Swirls was living." he tried to explain but found himself getting hot as his eyes continued to just stare at her skirt.

His stare was interrupted as her French manicured hand was placed on top of her thigh and he looked up into her ocean blue eyes covered by her glasses. 

"How awful! She was the only survivor?" Nelly guessed as her own look went between her hand and his eyes. 

"No." Yakko had to whisper now, his breathing completely shallow now.

Nelly leaned in.

"Tell me more." she whispered back and the distance was closed as Yakko once again found his lips covering hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his arms went around her waist. Gods! He was holding a girl! In his arms! And it was all voluntary!

This time there was no awkward fear of whether the other would disapprove and the kiss went deeper, the passion flaring from their lips. Suddenly, they realized they were laying on the couch, her on top of him and neither found a problem with this.

For the two of them it seemed like a glorious moment suspended in time. Her hands and arms cupping his head, holding him tight. His arms around her waist, wanting so badly to trace the skin on her thighs. He could just slip one little hand--

"I thought she was bringing information." someone called out and Yakko's eyes blinked opened as he broke the kiss to peer over Nelly's shoulder. This time it wasn't just Dot in her anger stance, but the twins as well.

Nelly slowly sat up and blushed as she adjusted her hair and pushed her fogged glasses back up her nose.

"I did. It's in my purse," and standing quickly she softly excused herself by saying, "I'll go get it."

As Penelope left the room, Yakko had found himself sitting up and acting as if nothing had happened. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea, getting her involved?" Wakko asked as the three moved. Dot to sit next to Yakko and the twins to sit in the overly large La-Z-Boy.

"Of course it is! You have to be a history buff to work the Archives. I'm sure Nelly knows everything about history." Yakko explained.

The three didn't really believe this, but none of them wanted to argue with Yakko. Nelly returned, purse in one hand, a manila envelope in the other. 

"This is all the information regarding the burning of St. Catherine's of 1934. Well, all that I could find in the WB news department. For some reason, many people believed they were the ones who set the fire." Nelly explained as she tried to sit next to Yakko, only to be blocked by Dot on one side and the arm of the couch on the other. She opted to sit next to Dot.

"Why would they think that?" Yakko asked, intrigued. 

"Because of the note the police department received only moments after the fire had happened. The note told police to do a background search on a man called Thomas Henry." Nelly explained.

Swirls blinked, confused.

"Thomas was the Deacon at St. Catherine's."

Nelly shook her head. 

"The police checked. Turned out he was part of the extension of a Mafia group based in Culver City at the time."

"But why would they want to burn a church?" Wakko asked. 

"Yeah, I thought the Mafia were religious too." Dot added. 

"Not this group. They were like...mercenaries. They'd do anything for money. Rumor had it that one of the real Warner Brothers paid Thomas to burn the church because he had heard a rumor that you three were hiding there when not wrecking havoc on the city."

Swirls became startled. 

"Somebody must have seen me there and thought that the rest of you were there too!" Nelly nodded. 

"They traced the note to some woman, but her name's been lost in the records. She kept complaining to the police that St. Catherine's church was being haunted by demons."

Nelly continued, 

"After the church burned, they took in a man named Father Jerome and Sister Mary for questioning, but they knew nothing of the fire. The reports are sketchy but it said that Father Jerome wouldn't leave a little bundled blanket he held onto. Said it was sentimental."

"It turned out though that the nuns had a collective will and that in the event of their death, the bundled blanket would be turned over to Father Jerome, but Sister Mary was still living and took the bundle to a home with her. The police eventually found no real evidence against Thomas, and since he was dead, they closed the case."

Nelly finished. Yakko looked over the reports, all done in faded ink and pencil. 

"But Swirls, you said you were left to Francine Lewis." he mentioned. 

"I was. Francine took me in." she confirmed.

Yakko absent-mindly placed the reports on the coffee table, his face set deep in thought. "What's your home phone number Swirls?" 

"545-6333" 

"And the number the nurse gave you?" 

"545-6319" 

"You said you found the info on Father Jerome in Francine's office, right?" Swirls nodded.

"How many lines does Francine have in her office?" Yakko asked. 

"One, her office line." 

"Call the number again and listen closely to the voice." Swirls furrowed her brow and heading over to the telephone dialed the number. Once again she received the answering machine, but the moment it said 'I'm in' Swirls gasped and dropped the phone.

With tears in her eyes and confusion on her face Swirls uttered only two words, 

"Sister Mary."

Wakko led Swirls back to the La-Z-Boy and held her as she cried. Dot, feeling sorry for the poor girl walked over and tried to help soothe the girl's tears. Yakko's mind was still in deep thought as the phone call only confirmed what his mind came up with.

"This still doesn't explain how or why the twins were split up. I think it's time to see Lon." Yakko said as he stood. 

"At this hour?" Nelly asked. 

"Why not?" Yakko said as he turned to Nelly. 

Looking at her watch and then up to Yakko, Nelly replied, 

"It's 8:56pm. Visiting hours are long over by now." 

"Well when _are_ visiting hours?" Yakko asked, peeved that his authority was being questioned.

"At Los Alamos? Two to Four Monday through Friday." she replied back.

Yakko sighed and sat at the other end of the couch and looked to his group of siblings. 

"I suppose you two can wait a little longer, right?" Wakko nodded as he looked to Yakko. Swirls now crying on Dot's shoulder.

"Maybe I should go..." Nelly said softly as she stood. 

"No Penelope. You can stay if you like. I understand it's not very late and that you probably only live next door--" 

"Actually, I live in Yorba Linda." she replied. Yakko blinked, the tiredness and deep thought leaving him.

"Yorba Linda? That's an hour and a half drive from here! By all means, please stay. You could get carjacked or in an accident while you tried to make that trip!" Yakko tried to persuade.

"Do you have room for me?" Nelly asked unsuredly.

"No!" Dot protested, but her protest fell on deaf ears. 

"If you don't mind, the couch pulls out. You could sleep here." Yakko offered. 

Nelly nodded slowly. "If you're sure, then I'd be delighted." 

As the twins and Dot prepared for bed, Yakko helped Nelly get the sheets onto the couch bed. 

"I do have to thank you for letting me sleep over." Nelly said softly as she pulled on one corner while Yakko brought out a large and heavy quilt.

"It is a harsh world out there and villainy likes to parade under the mask of virtue." Yakko said as he unfolded the quilt to lay on top of the bed. 

Nelly giggled a bit. "That sounds like it's from a movie."

"It is. Sleepy Hollow. Dot wanted to see a scary movie one night and so we rented it. Besides, she loves that Johnny Depp guy." he said as he went to go grab a pillow. 

Nelly smiled. "You seem to be really close to Dot." she called out to him. 

Yakko returned with two large pillows, 

"I'm close to Dot and Wakko." he responded simply.

"And Swirls?" Nelly asked.

There was a long pause as Yakko placed the pillows on the couch. 

"She...was unexpected." was all he said, his voice soft on the subject. 

"Jealous she'll take your brother away?" Nelly asked as she followed him to the kitchen.

"No!" Yakko immeaditly said as he grabbed two glasses from the cabinet and began to fill one with water. 

"Then you just have no comment on her?" Nelly continued to prod. 

Yakko sighed. "It's the fact that Dot's afraid Swirls is her replacement and I can't show favoritism on any of them. If I did they'd all probably start to get ideas. I want to keep in them the fact that we are a family and love grows." he said as he placed the glass of water on the counter and went to the refrigerator, grabbing the box of soymilk and filling another glass with that.

Nelly leaned against the counter.

"If you did have to choose a favorite, who would it be?" she asked softly. 

Yakko looked at his glass of milk and after a moment replied, "Dot." 

"Why?" Nelly asked. 

"Because she's fragile, even if she doesn't like to admit it. But at times she can stick up for herself. And she has an ego."

"So you find her like a miniature version of yourself?" Nelly asked. 

Yakko shrugged as he placed the milk back and handed Nelly the glass of water. "I guess."

"Hmm." was all Nelly replied with.

As they headed back to the couch, Yakko raised a brow, 

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means that from what you've told me, you have the beginning basis of a Groucho complex, only with a different base but perhaps the same apex."

Yakko blinked and looked at Nelly with one brow raised high. "Are you in some sort of cohorts with Scratchy?" he asked. 

Nelly giggled as she sat down on the edge of the bed-couch. "No, but I study different actors of different periods of time. The Marx Brothers for the 20's and 30's and Anthony Perkins for the 50's and 60's." she explained.

Yakko frowned as he sipped his milk.

"Y-You aren't angry, are you?" Penelope asked, fearful she had insulted him.

"No, just annoyed that I'm getting extra psycho-therapy for what I don't understand." he replied as he sat next to her.

Nelly smiled. "I'll keep quiet if you prefer." 

"Women should be seen and not heard." Yakko mumbled which only made Nelly laugh. "Exactly like Groucho! Oh I'm sure you've had to have met him sometime before you guys were put in the tower." 

Yakko grinned a bit. "Wakko got a chance to meet Harpo once, but other than that we never did. They were at MGM at the time I believe. They never did Warner movies, and when they did well...the real brothers didn't like them." he explained.

Nelly nodded and finished her water but before she could say anything Dot had come from the depths of the great beyond. 

"Yakko, tuck in time." she said sleepily as she pulled on her brother's arm. Her hair was in curlers and she wore a pink night gown and pink slippers. Nelly could understand why she was Yakko's favorite. Yakko smiled to his sister and turned to Nelly, "Excuse me." he said as he got up and followed Dot to her bedroom.

Minutes later Yakko returned and Nelly notice that in place of his khaki pants, he wore khaki colored flannel pajama bottoms. As he headed towards her he threw her a white bundle of cloth. 

"Night clothes if you want, bathroom's down the hall and last door to the left." he said with a smile. 

"Thanks." Nelly replied as she picked up her purse and headed for the bathroom.

As Penelope headed back to her bed while brushing out her long brown hair, she found Yakko watching the Channel 4 news.

"Waiting for Leno?" she asked and Yakko turned. 5'5" of peaches and creme skin, waist length brown wavy hair and just a simple long white shirt that proclaimed Anaheim Angels took in his gaze. This time there were no gold-rimmed glasses. 

He gulped, "Um...just getting the weather report for tomorrow." he stated as he stared at the flying angel A across her chest. He quickly averted his gaze back to the television, which had its sound on low. He felt her sit next to him on the edge of the couch and all too soon her thigh was pressed against his. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized the temperature in the room was dropping. Colleen Williams on the TV spoke something about a traffic accident on the 101. 

"Oh my gosh! That's the freeway I take home some nights." Nelly exclaimed as she looked at the two-car collision crash. 

Yakko stared intently at the police officers. "Guess I saved you then." he mumbled softly. "You did." she responded softly as she laid her head on his shoulder. 

Yakko stared hard at the TV. If he even looked at her now, that would be it.

Nelly kissed his jaw and Yakko closed his eyes gently as her arms wrapped around his waist. 

"I have so much to thank you for," she began.

~Don't say it. Don't say it.~ his mind willed her, but it was too late.

"How can I ever repay you?" she finished the sentence and as Yakko turned to face her, she was looking up at him and faster than lightening his lips found hers and they sat there, kissing.

His arms wrapped around her neck and he held her close, running his gloved fingers through her hair. She kissed him, passionately, deeply. The others were asleep, perhaps this time...perhaps anything could happen this time. The Channel 4 news played it's theme song over the ending credits and the TV announced that tonight, Jay Leno's guests would be Christie Brinkley, Piper Peraboo and Tyra Banks. 

Nelly felt one of Yakko hands leave her and begin to search the couch for something. After a moment he lifted his hand over her head and flipped the TV off. Penelope blinked. He gave up an interview with three babes to be with her? This was the most amazing thing to her of the day.

She wondered if he actually did want to give up those models and so she proceeded to lay down and he followed, this time, him on top of her.

~Penelope! He's a teenager running on hormones! He doesn't love you!~ and this thought made her break away. 

"Yakko," she began and he looked to her with those black abyss eyes. 

"Yes?" he asked. 

"Do you really love me, or are these just hormones?"

Yakko gave a half grin. "Nelly, the moment I peered into those baby blues of yours I knew that not even Scratchy's Nurse was on my list anymore." 

Nelly blinked. Oh yes, somehow she had scored on Yakko's number one list and so she resumed their heated kiss.

But seconds later another thought interrupted her mind,

~Penelope! He's probably only 16! You could get called in! For heaven sake's he was born in 1930! He's older than me! Good reasoning.~ and that was the end of her thought process for the night.

  
The two spent a night of passion, together, on the couch. The two professed their love for each other, and for once, all seemed right in the world.   


Nelly woke up to clapping her hands against her ears. It sounded as if a home fire alarm was going off and as she opened her eyes to look at Yakko, she found he too had his hands clapped around his ears, but his face squinted up. Nelly finally realized it wasn't a fire, but screaming and watched as Yakko realized the same thing. The two turned their heads, intent on seeing the TV on, but instead found little Dot Warner standing in front of them, screaming as if a murder had just been committed.

Yakko, startled out of his wits, cursed under his breath and grabbed the quilt from the couch, quickly throwing it over the two of them. He had been caught. He looked around frantically and found the twins coming out of the hallway, rubbing their eyes, dressed exactly alike and asking in unison, "What's going on?" 

Dot continued to scream and finally Yakko screamed out himself, "Dottie, Shut UP!"

Dot stopped and a deep red fiery anger showed on her face. "Call me Dottie--" 

"OUT! NOW!" Yakko commanded as he pointed to the hallway. His own anger looking much more fearsome than Dot's. Even Nelly cowered away from him, pulling the blanket so it only covered his waist. 

"All Warners out of here! Now!" and this sounded like a commandment from God himself. The anger on Yakko's face and in his voice enough to terrorize a small country. The twins, fully awake now with their eyes wide open, made a hasty retreat back to their room. Yakko turned to Dot who only glared back. "Out." he hissed harshly to his baby sister.

"And what about her." Dot hissed back, or so she tried as she pointed to Penelope. 

"We will deal with my social and sex life at the breakfast table. Now, GET OUT!" this time, fearing for her life, Dot ran to her room and Yakko slumped back against the couch putting a hand to his head and closing his eyes.

Nelly quickly slid out from under the blanket and stood, grabbing articles of clothing, "Maybe I should--" 

"No," Yakko said tiredly. "Stay. You have to now. If you go," he stopped, trying to search his mind on how he could explain this to her.

"If you go they'll see you as nothing more than a common harlot and I believe you're more than that. Please. Stay. If not for my sake, then your own." he explained as best he could. Nelly slipped the Angel shirt back over her head and nodded as she flung her hair out from underneath the shirt.

"Then stay I shall." she said as she handed him his flannel p.j.'s. 

Yakko sighed as he stood and slipped them on. He rearranged the couch as best he could, but Penelope could see that just this quick episode had exhausted him.

They slid the couch back to its original sitting position and rested against it for a moment. "I'm sorry. I knew I should have left last night." 

"Are you saying you regretted last night?" Yakko asked as he looked at her.

"No--" Nelly began but was quickly cut off. 

"Then don't talk."

Nelly quickly closed her mouth and lay against the couch, fearing to make any move at all. Yakko sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. "I should be apologizing. I should have never taken advantage of the situation, or handed you the shirt." 

"Are _you_ saying you regretted last night?" Nelly retorted. 

"No but I--" 

"Then don't talk." Nelly said with a smile. 

Yakko looked to her with a raised brow, but the smile eased away his look and he smiled too.

"So when's breakfast? I don't think your siblings will be able to wait all morning." Nelly said. Yakko looked at the VCR clock and found it to be mid-morning. 

"I hate it when they leave me up to the cooking." he said as he stood and headed to the kitchen. Nelly continued to smile and followed.

Once in the kitchen, Yakko looked around, summing up his options. He began to grab the toaster from underneath the counter, along with a pan and food items from the refrigerator. 

"Do you know how to cook bacon?" he asked Nelly while setting up. 

"Yes." she responded. 

"There's a pack in the freezer and a baking pan on the bottom of the cabinet next to the fridge. Go at it." he said as he began to crack eggs into the frying pan.

Nelly began to get the pan out but heard a muttered curse and looked up. Yakko sucked at his finger while trying to crack an egg into the pan. 

"What some help?" she asked. 

"No. I got it." he said a little angrily as he took his finger out of his mouth and continued to crack the eggs. Nelly shrugged but only got that far before she heard a rather large, "Ow!" come from Yakko. She giggled and went over to him taking an egg from his hand. 

"Go lay out the bacon on the pan and I'll do this." she said smiling. Yakko sighed and headed over to the pan and began to lay out the bacon. Just as Nelly cracked the last egg though she heard a thud and another "Ow!" come from his side of the kitchen. Looking over she found the frozen block of bacon on the floor and Yakko rubbing his foot. Nelly laughed. 

"Get out and _I'll_ cook breakfast." she said.

"But it--" 

"Go! Before you kill yourself!" she said, interrupting his protesting.

Yakko sighed and headed out of the kitchen to go flop down on the couch, but just before he flopped she heard him call out, "You could set the table." Yakko rolled his eyes with a smile and headed back.

By the time Dot and the twins found it safe to once again come out, they found Nelly setting a plate of egg sandwiches on the table while Yakko brought out glasses of milk. Dot frowned as she saw Penelope and the twins didn't seem to care. Both stared at the sandwiches hungrily.

Nelly smiled. "Good morning." she said cheerily, as if the previous episode had never happened.

"Are those for us?" the twins asked as they pointed at the food. Nelly nodded and the twins quickly sat down, grabbing their forks, prepared to eat when given permission. 

"Did you make those?" Dot asked suspiciously. 

Nelly nodded and Dot added, "I'm not hungry, thanks." as she tried to retreat from the dining room. 

"Dot Warner. Sit." Yakko commanded and Dot sighed walking over to her seat at the table.

Nelly and Yakko took their seats and Yakko grinned, his evil 'i'm-plotting-something' grin. "Now, before anyone eats, we are going to talk about what happened this morning. If the food grows cold, gets moldy or decomposes while we're talking, well then, that'll be your faults as well. Any questions?"

The twins proceeded to moan and Dot's frown grew deeper.

"Now, who would like to start?" Yakko asked. Nelly kept quiet. He owned the place, she didn't. Nuff said.

"I would like to say that I do not care who you date or when you do. I would just like to eat my breakfast." Swirls stated first.

"Nice comment, but not helpful. Wakko, comments?" Yakko asked. 

"Isn't this cruel and unusual punishment?" Wakko asked. 

"For our family? No." and then turning to look at Dot. "Would you care to talk about this?" he asked her.

Dot frowned. "This woman is using you for your reputation, your stardom and our money." she stated. 

Yakko sighed and then smiled.

"But what you are not aware of sister sibling, as most people aren't except for me, Scratchy, and our dear friend Plotz is the undeniable fact of this statement. As far as our finances are, we are flat out broke."

Swirls, Wakko and Dot all looked at Yakko in horror. 

"We're what?!" they asked terrified.

"Broke, bankrupt. We have no more money at all anywhere." Yakko put it simply for his siblings. 

"How do you live then?" Penelope asked softly, worried. 

"By our havoc my dear. Chaos always has a reason, and ours is for money. To sound cliché, people pay us to go away."

Dot grinned evilly and looked to Nelly, "So, I guess that's the end of your relationship, huh?" 

"No." Nelly said right after Dot finished her sentence. "I do love your brother and whether he's flat broke or Bill Gates doesn't matter to me. What does is the fact that he returns my love. We have a true relationship." Nelly softly explained to Dot. 

Dot took a deep breath and let it out. Her face grew worried and she looked to Yakko. 

Yakko tried to offer her a warm grin it didn't work. 

"They're hungry." she whispered as she pointed to the twins. The twins in turn looked to Yakko whose heart went out to his sister. "Everyone, eat. Dot, come with me." he said as he walked over to his sister and picked her up out of her chair and carried her out of the room.

It was mid-morning and people were staring as Yakko carried his sister as they walked throughout the studio in their pajama's. Once, Dot had whispered against his neck, "Put me down please." as she hung on tightly to him, but he didn't and continued to walk until they came upon an area of the studio they used as an outside set. It was where they had filmed one of the many Robin Hood's back in the 40's, but now it was just empty, hardly used for any movie anymore.

There was a small pond in the middle of the small forest, which was mostly filled with real plants. Yakko sat down at the base of pond, still holding Dot. But even when he had sat down, she didn't release him. 

"If you don't let me go, you might choke me." he whispered jokingly in her ear. 

"I don't care." she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder. 

"Come on. What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't like Nelly." Dot said into his shoulder. 

"Why not?" 

"Because when you marry her she'll want to be our mother and she'll change everything." Dot continued into his shoulder. Her voice still muffled.

Yakko blinked and tried to look into Dot's face, but couldn't pull her away still. ~Just like my tail around Nelly's ankle.~ he thought. 

"Who said I was planning to marry her?" he asked.

"When people fall in love, they get married." Dot said. 

"But you love Mel Gibson. Does that mean you're going to marry him?" Yakko asked. "I'm only ten. You're 17. You could marry Nelly if ya wanted." Dot said, pulling away just a tad from her brother.

Yakko chuckled. "And age matters?" he kissed the top of Dot's head. "My dear sister, I will not marry Penelope, or any other woman for that matter until I have your blessing, does that sound all right to you?" Dot nodded a bit.

"Now, about this envy you have with women touching me," he began. 

"I don't envy them!" Dot said. 

"Well you must not like something. You don't like Scratchy's Nurse, you don't like Swirls, you don't like Nelly or Michelle Pfeiffer or--" 

"All right! I don't like the girls you like! What of it?"

"That's just it. I'm a guy and I like all girls, what I don't get is why you can't understand this." Yakko said. Dot looked at his flannel p.j's.

"Cause I love you." she said softly. 

"Dot, I love you too, but you're my sister. Not a girl I can randomly ogle." Yakko responded softly. 

"I don't want you to leave me." she said as tears slid down her cheek as she pressed her face against his cheek. He rubbed the back of her head as he placed his chin on top of her head and looked out at the weeping willow.

"And I will never leave you, but Nelly is a very special girl to me and I'd very much like to get on with my life." Yakko told his sister. Dot nodded a bit. "Someday when you're older you'll meet a guy who will knock your dear old brother to number 200 on the list of guys you like." Dot giggled. 

"No I won't." she said as she pulled away and looked to Yakko.

Yakko smiled and poked her nose. "Just you wait sister sibling, all too soon Wakko and I will have to fight the men off. Dot Warner will be the next Princess Grace!" Dot giggled and hugged Yakko. 

"I'll stop getting jealous." she whispered. 

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Yakko replied and together they walked hand in hand back home.

Back at the tower Dot went off to her room to get dressed and Yakko found the twins cleaning up the table. Nelly headed over to Yakko with his glass of milk and asked softly, "Is she going to be okkay?" 

Yakko nodded. "Yeah. She was just worried. Thought we were getting married." Yakko replied as the two walked to the kitchen. 

"Married? We're not getting married...are we?" Nelly asked, surprised. 

"Not that I know of, and if you think I'm going to propose to you right here and now, you've got another thing comin' sister. I may be able to tell you I love you, but marriage is a _long_ way off." he replied before they entered the kitchen. 

Nelly smiled. "All right." and she kissed his cheek before they entered the next room. 

"Wakko and I left you and Dot a sandwich. We thought you'd get hungry." Swirls said without looking up from the dishes. 

"Hey!" Nelly exclaimed angrily. 

Wakko sighed. "Nelly thought you two would get hungry." he said, giving credit to where it was due.

Yakko smiled and picking up two sandwiches, quickly retreated, making sure Nelly was in tow, once out he gave her one sound piece of advice. 

"If the twins take credit for not eating food, let them have it. It helps teach them discipline." Nelly nodded. 

Yakko began to head down the hallway when Nelly stopped him. 

"Let me do it," Penelope said. "So I can have a chance to talk to her." 

Yakko nodded and handed her the sandwich. 

"Her room is the one with the pink door. You can't miss it." he said softly. 

Nelly nodded and made her way into the great beyond.

Nelly gently knocked on the door. It was so dark in the hallway that she had hardly been able to see the pink door of the girl's room.

"Come in." Dot's voice called out. 

As Nelly gently opened the door and peered in, she found Dot sitting at her dressing table in her bloomers taking the curlers out of her hair.

"I brought you breakfast." Nelly said softly. 

Dot turned and looked at Penelope and a shiver of fear ran through the woman. Dot raised a brow, which Nelly noted as being almost like Yakko's look, but Dot shrugged and looked back at her mirror. "Lay it on the bed." she said nonchalantly. 

"On that pretty pink comforter?" Nelly asked. 

"Yeah, why not?" Dot asked as she pulled the last curler from her hair and began to brush out the curls.

"Well, the grease would soak through and stain it." Nelly stated matter of factly. Dot hrmed and looked around the room. She pulled a few Kleenex's from a box and set them atop her nightstand. 

"That shouldn't stain, should it?" she asked.

Nelly smiled. "Nope." she said as she placed the sandwich atop the Kleenex.

Nelly began to retreat when she suddenly heard, "I'm sorry." from Dot. 

Nelly turned, "Why's that?" 

"For screaming you awake this morning." Dot replied softly. 

Nelly smiled. "I understand. You're very protective of your brother. You must love him very much." 

"I do." Dot said as she slipped into her skirt.

"He's lucky to have a sister to watch over him. I was an only child so I never had the privilege." Nelly commented. 

"I...guess I can watch over the two of you." Dot said slowly. Nelly smiled. 

"You really are sweet Dot. Thanks." Nelly said and then quickly left.

Eventually all were dressed and knowing of the busy day ahead, they prepared for it as Yakko escorted Nelly to the door. 

"Thank you for everything." Penelope said softly as she straightened one last wrinkle out of her skirt.

"My pleasure. Once again, let me apologize for--" 

"There's no reason to explain Dot." 

"I meant your ankle. Next time I'll be more careful." Yakko said with a grin.

"You think there might be a next time?" Nelly asked, sounding serious enough that worry washed over Yakko's face.

"Well, I was hoping there would be but if--" he tried explaining before Nelly chuckled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. Yakko smiled, relieved.

"I'll call you tonight if we find anything. Thanks for your help." he said. 

Nelly nodded and left.

When the Warner Four entered the Los Alamos Asylum for the Insane, many of the nurses blinked and stared in shock. Never had they seen the Warners before and they never expected them to come waltzing into here. 

The four approached the main desk but before Yakko could say anything the nurse quickly said, "This is no place for kids, especially you. Go home." 

Yakko sighed and remembered that politeness always counted, 

"We're here for a reason. We need to talk to Lon Borax." he told the nurse.

"Are you crazy?! You're the ones who sent him here!" 

"But we need him to tell us about her." Yakko said as he pointed to Swirls. 

The nurse looked to Swirls and then back to Yakko. 

"That 'girl' looks exactly like Wakko. Don't tell me you three have been to Scotland and found cloning?" 

"We did not!" Wakko protested as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

"Yeah! We're twins!" Swirls backed him up as she too crossed her arms. Dot helped and furrowed her brows. Yakko gave the nurse a smile. 

"You _do_ know what happens when my sibs get angry, riiight?" he asked wiggling his brows eluding to the impending chaos that could happen if they didn't get their way.

The nurse's eyes widened in fear. 

"You wouldn't." she said, her voice getting soft. 

"We would." Yakko said. 

The Nurse sighed and motioned for one of the men of the hospital to come forward. "Escort the Warners to room 306, Borax, Lon. They may see him for 10 minutes, but watch them. Closely." the nurse said. The man nodded and proceeded to escort them to 306.

As the group of Warners and the nurse walked down the long corridors, they heard screaming and inane chattering. They watched as the mentally ill clawed at walls, talked to people who weren't there and swatted at imaginary flies. The four shivered in horror and prayed Lon wouldn't be in any of these states.

306 was the last room on the left of the hallway and the big beefy man who looked like he could crush skulls like grapes unlocked the door to a silent room. As he opened it, the four stood side-by-side and got to look at Lon Borax sitting upon his bed staring into nothingness. 

"Ten Minutes." the man-nurse grunted and then shut the door on them and relocked it. They all quickly noted the walls were padded.

The sound of the door slamming seemed to wake Lon from his meditative state. His eyes seemed glassy, fogged over an unfocused. Obviously his insanity had been in control for years. None of the Warners knew which one should speak first and for a good minute the silence continued.

Lon turned to see who had entered and stared as he looked at each Warner, his sight resting on Swirls last. He blinked, confused and gently asked, 

"Wakko, why is there two of you? How much do you eat?" 

"Ther-There's only one of me, and I don't eat much." Wakko said, giving a half-truth.

Lon chuckled and said, "But I see two Wakko's. No, wait. The coloring is different. One wears a purple dress and a green hat. But my Swirlsie died, in the fire." Lon said as he peered over their heads and his eyes went distance, as if experiencing a flash back.

"Um, Mr. Borax, sir," Yakko began, his voice low and harsh, needing water, "What do you mean Swirlsie died? What do you know?" 

"Oh, I know plenty my dear Yakko. I am your father, no? From my heads you four came after I had spent hours of watching movies to come up with ideas. But the studio head, he did not like the idea of twins and told me to throw out one of them. How could I separate such beauty? Oh, it was a hard choice indeed."

"But why split us at all?" the twins asked in unison trying so hard not to cry. 

"Rivals. Many rivals and in the end I was told there can be only three. Yakko could be the guardian, to watch over you. Wakko to supply gadgets, and Dot to distract." Lon explained.

Swirls looked at the ground and whispered, "I was the Zeppo." she said softly. 

Lon blinked and suddenly the unfocused eyes became focused and it was as if the insanity left him. 

"Swirlsie! There are no Zeppo's! You are the Chico. You are the gambler and the one who makes deals when Yakko can only go so far. Even Zeppo was a very important part of the group."

"But he left." Dot said. 

"Of course Dottie, because they thought there was no love. A family is only as strong as they can keep their love. And I loved all of you equally. So much so that when the studio told me to tear up Swirlsie, I gave her to a nun who liked my drawings. The Mother Superior of St. Catherine's. Sister Alice Melina Miller." 

"I had a theory that when twins are separated they will find each other out of love, and was I not right my children?" Lon asked with a smile. The four Warners smiled back and ran up to Lon, hugging him tightly. 

"I have missed you." he whispered to them, but they continued to hold him tight, afraid that letting go would have him revert back to his insanity.

"If you let me go, I have candy for you." he whispered. Instantly they all let him go and he lifted the mattress on his cot pulling out candy that had foreign labels on it. Each Warner held out their hands waiting to be given this special allowance. He gave Dot, Wakko and Swirls their piece but landing on Yakko he eyed him for a moment. 

"Can you drink milk yet?" he asked. 

His lactose intolerance. Yakko couldn't drink milk, but maybe Lon wouldn't know and so Yakko nodded. Lon pulled a cup from his nightstand and handed it to Yakko. 

"Drink." he said. 

Yakko looked down in the cup and realized it was milk. The real stuff too. If he drank it, he could get the candy and be done with it, but just looking at the milk made Yakko's stomach churn and begin to hurt. Yakko cringed, closed his eyes and placed the cup back on the nightstand and sighed. He heard Lon cluck his tongue at him. 

"No candy if you can not drink milk." 

Yakko sighed and asked hopefully, "Is there something else I can have?" 

"Greedy greedy child! You see me next time and perhaps I will have something for you, but not them." and then they all looked towards the door as they heard it being unlocked. 

The beefy man-nurse opened the door and grunted, "Time's up." and waited for them to leave. The four solemnly walked out of the room and watched as the door was closed on Lon Borax, their creator.

Once they were back in the main office, there wasn't anything they could do and so they headed home. Wakko, Swirls and Dot happily ate their candy and walked ahead of a disheartened and depressed Yakko who trailed behind. His hands were in his pockets and he fingered the paddleball he always kept in there. Why had he, the oldest, been denied such a delicacy as Lon's favorite candy? So what if it was laden with pure milk and would've cost Yakko dearly in the end. Didn't Lon speak of love? Didn't Lon love all his children equally? Yakko sighed and kicked a rock as he walked along. He didn't care and so he made his mind think of whom else could have caused the twins such misery. There had to be more police records. There had to be something somewhere. But his mind seemed to be stuck in a jam, frozen, not knowing what to do, and tingling with depression over the fact that their creator, their father had to be stuck far away and hardly ever be seen. 

Once home, Wakko, Swirls and Dot decided to play '13 Dead End Drive'. A weird board game where players tried to kill the others. Yakko on the other hand went unnoticed by the sibs and so he headed to his room to figure out what he should do. He closed the door and barricaded it was a chair. He wanted privacy. He wanted to be alone. He wanted a hug.


	3. Strange Interlude

Part III: Strange Interlude

Yakko looked at his clock and found that Nelly would still be at the archives here on the lot. He went to the phone on his dresser and looked up the extension number for the archives. He picked up his phone and dialed the number.

"Warner Brothers Studio Archives, Penelope Eclaire speaking, how may I help you?" came her soft sweet voice over the short distance. 

"Nelly, it's Yakko." he said, trying hard to sound cheery and knowing deep within himself he was failing miserably.

"Oh hi Yakko! Did you go see Lon today?" she asked, her soft voice turning from professional to cheery in seconds. 

"Yeah we did and he didn't give us much info except saying why he gave Swirls to the Church, but I just know the twins will want to know why the studio insisted upon it and Lon only eluded to it." Yakko explained.

"Why don't you go back and ask him tomorrow?" Nelly asked. 

"Because the nurses there would probably only allow us another 10 minutes, and Lon doesn't seem interested in talking of the past. Only about how much he loves us." 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Nelly offered, her tone sympathetic. 

"I'm not sure." he responded tiredly into the phone. 

"Yakko, you sound as if you haven't had a break from this 'mission' that you guys are on. How long have you been at it?" Nelly inquired. 

"Two weeks if you include the first meeting with Swirls." Yakko responded as he headed over to the edge of his bed and sat down. 

"My gods! Yakko you need a break or else you'll kill yourself on stress alone! How about we go on a date?" she asked. 

Yakko fell back onto the bed and groaned. "I don't have any money." he muttered into the receiver. 

"I'll pay for everything. Dinner and a movie. I'll even rent videos for your brother and sisters and just the two of us will go out. Entirely my treat and guilt free." 

Yakko blinked. "Are you sure?" 

"I'm positive. You pick the movie and I'll pick the restaurant. All I need to know is what kind of movie the twins like." 

"They like comedies from the silent era and the 30's. I'll meet you at the bottom of the tower at seven. Sound good?" 

"Perfect. And don't dress up. Those khaki's are irresistible." and before Yakko could say another thing the phone went dead and Yakko couldn't help but grin just a bit.

Nelly didn't meet him at the bottom of the tower. In fact, she met him at the door to bring up the movies. 

"I got _The Exorcist_ for Dot and _The Gold Rush_ for the twins. Does that sound okkay?" she asked as Yakko let her enter the water tower. 

"Perfect!" he said, then added, "Wait here." as he entered the family room.

Dot and Wakko by this time were playing Capcom Vs. Marvel on their Super Nintendo as Swirls watched on, but when Yakko entered, they put the game on pause.

"I'm going out for the night and I don't know when I'll be back. Maybe later tonight, maybe tomorrow morning." he said as he tossed them the tapes. "These should keep you occupied. If all else fails, I am sure you three have brains of your owns, and if not, I know the twins share one." 

"Where are you going?" all three piped up at once.

"Just out, to examine the town. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." he reassured them. They eyed Yakko wearily for a second, trying to find if he was lying, but shrugging it off, they went back to their video game and Yakko left the room smiling.

"How'd they take it?" Nelly whispered as they went outside. 

"The night is ours Miss Eclaire." Yakko stated as they headed for her car.

They went to the restaurant first, a place called Claim Jumpers and even though the walls showed buffalo and deer heads, along with a stuffed moose, the entire place was completely normal. Except the menu was done up like an 1850's newspaper. Still it was readable and was the perfect place for casual or formal dining.

Yakko looked around, and was glad it wasn't too busy at the moment. He had heard that places like these were packed on weekends, but this was the middle of the week. As they sat down at their private booth in a corner, he couldn't keep his eyes off of all the surroundings. 

"Can I start you off with something to drink?" the host asked as he tried not to pass judgment on the odd couple. 

"I'll have water, thanks." Nelly said, nervousness wavering in her voice. 

"A Diet Pepsi." Yakko said as he looked just over the host's head who jotted down the orders and left. 

"So, wha-what do you think of the place? I've always loved to come here." Nelly said as she finally let go of her purse and looked at Yakko. He quickly turned his head to look at the woman who still wore her hair in a bun, gold-rimmed glasses and a blue skirt suit this time. Yakko looked down at the table and noted it was the fake and yet highly polished wood most restaurants used. 

"It's nice. Quiet at least. Not too noisy." he replied in short static sentences. 

Nelly nodded and couldn't help but look around the restaurant in nervous fear. She was sure someone was staring at them, and yet, all the people she looked at were eating their dinner. 

"So, um, why do you like this place?" Yakko asked, still staring at the table. The Warner Master of Words had suddenly lost his knack -- he wasn't used to having no idea what to say.

She looked at him, his head lowered, studying the table intently and she realized that the poor boy was probably terrified knowing that his sibs weren't close-by to save him. She gave a small grin and said, "They have good food." and at the mention of food, a waitress came by. 

"Have you decided?" she asked. She was young, probably no more than 17 and had short auburn hair, gelled back to stay out of her face. Her green eyes looked at the two in curiosity and had all the outward signs of airhead. 

"No, actually, I think we need a few moments." Nelly said as she looked between waitress and Yakko who still stared at the table. 

"Okkay, well, if I'm not back by the time you've decided, my name's Viola and I'm your waitress for this evening." she said giving them a cheery grin and then headed off to another table.

Nelly turned back to look at Yakko who was now fingering his spoon. 

"Is there anything particular you want to eat?" she asked him. 

Yakko finally looked up, but only so he could find his menu. He eyed the front of it and then asked, "Have you ever had the Sliders?" 

Nelly shook her head and looked at her menu. "No, where are they?" she asked, trying to find them on there.

"On the left, second from the bottom." he said as he re-read the description one more time. After a moment Nelly oohed. 

"I've never had those." she commented. 

"Want to split? Then we could have dessert afterwards." he offered, giving her a smile. Nelly giggled. "Probably be a good idea. The food here is huge."

Viola once again returned, but seemed to have a bounce in her step. 

"Think you know what you want?" she asked them, pad ready to be written on. 

"Yes, we're splitting the Sliders." Nelly said as she collected the menus so she could hand them to the waitress. 

"Ooh! Great choice. They're totally awesome. Small burgers, good fries." she said as she wrote down the order and took the menus. 

"I'll be back soon." she said as she headed off. 

Nelly giggled at the waitress. "She's got a cute personality." she said. 

Yakko watched Viola bounce off. "I think she's missing a few screws." he said as he turned back to face Nelly. 

"Really? Maybe she's just optimistic." 

"Maybe. She's probably one of those Teeny bopper people." Yakko said as he looked at Nelly but fingered his spoon.

"She's your age. Maybe you two would have a lot in common." Nelly said, her voice growing soft. 

Yakko eyed Nelly with a raised brow. "You don't like this age thing, do you?" he said gently. Now it was Nelly's turn to stare at the table.

"I'm just afraid what people will think. I'm nearly 23 and you're only 17." she commented in a whisper. 

"And since when did other people matter? I learned something today Penelope. I learned that love is only what you make it, and if you want to turn it into a thing where the social norms find it as an unsacred thing, then you'll be running from it all your life." Yakko said softly as he leaned close to Nelly.

Nelly looked up and into his eyes. "You're so brave." she whispered. 

Yakko leaned back and smiled. "I lived in the Great Depression. You had to be brave back then or else you didn't survive." he replied. 

Nelly smiled. "I bet you know more things than anyone could know in a lifetime." 

"Nope. All I know is this." and before Nelly could blink, she watched as Yakko picked up his spoon, licked the round part of it and stuck it on his nose. It hung there, balancing on the impossible and Nelly could only laugh.

Viola came around holding a tray with a plate on it and as she looked at Yakko, she raised a brow and asked, "You do know that a spoon is used for eating, right?" 

Yakko rolled his eyes and plucked the spoon off nose. "Yes. Thank you for the tip."

"Oh, no problem. Just remember to return it at the end of your meal." Viola said as she placed the plate of burgers and fries in the middle of the table. "Enjoy!" she said and bounced off. 

"Horribly perky girl. Don'tcha think?" Yakko asked as he looked to Nelly. 

Nelly shrugged. "Like I said. She's cute." 

"Ah ha! So, you're indifferent on the matter!" Yakko said as he took a french fry from the plate.

Nelly smiled. "Exactly! And that's all you'll hear from me on the subject." 

"Oh, all right." Yakko said, trying to sound dejected and failing at it as he popped the french fry in his mouth.

On the other side of Burbank though, matters were quite different...

"We wanna watch Chaplin!" the twins cried out. 

"I want Linda Blair!" 

"Chaplin!" 

"Blair!" 

"Chaplin!" 

"Blair!" and before another word could be spoken, Dot quickly placed _The Exorcist_ into the VCR and the eerie theme music began to play. Swirls screamed and ran into the great beyond as Wakko stood there and sighed.

"I hope you're proud of yourself!" was all Wakko had to say before he stomped off. 

Dot nodded once and then sat in front of the TV. It would only be a matter of time before pea soup would cover the screen.

When Wakko entered his bedroom, Swirls was on the bed, playing Solitaire. "Wanna play Go Fish?" Wakko asked his sister as he took off his hat and laid it on the desk. Swirls looked up and removed hers as well. "Sure." she said as she gathered the cards up and began to shuffle them. Wakko plopped onto the bed to sit across from his twin. If it weren't for the clothes, anyone would think Wakko was playing against a mirror. 

Swirls dealt the cards and the two arranged their cards in the same order. 

"Got any--" Wakko was about to ask before Swirls quickly responded with, "Go fish." Wakko carefully picked up a card from the pile and looked at the card, making sure it was hidden from his sister. 

"Got any 4's?" Swirls asked. 

Wakko hrmed and frowned. "You don't have any 4's, why would you want mine?" 

Swirls blinked and looked to her brother.

"You don't know if I have any 4's or not." 

"You're cheating!" 

"I'm not a cheater! You're a cheater!" Swirls retorted back. Wakko blinked and sat back, stunned. "You take that back!" 

"You take it back!" 

"I won't take that back. You're a cheater! Misses cheater!" Wakko taunted as he hopped off the bed. Swirls jumped down next to him. "Say that again..." Swirls asked. 

"Misses Cheat--" but before Wakko could finish the sentence, Swirls had punched the ride side of his jaw. Wakko gasped and in a whirl of dust the two began a fistfight, rolling around the floor of their room, crying out that the other was a cheater.

Wakko jumped out from the fight. If his twin wanted a war, then she would get a war. He pulled a mallet from his shirt and was about ready to hit his sister over the head when an anvil dropped on him from no where. 

"I am not a cheater." she said calmly as she stood and looked at her rather flattened brother. Wakko sighed as he pulled himself from underneath the anvil, and puffing he surrendered. 

"Fine. You win." 

"Want to play another card game?" Swirls asked, showing she was not a poor sport. 

"Yes. Let's play War." Wakko said, an evil glint in his eye.

"This is a _slice_ of cake? What does the full version look like?!" Yakko asked as he looked at a slice of the cake called 'The Motherlode'. It was a 7-layer piece of cake of double fudge devil's food cake mix and between layers was a deep rich chocolate frosting. This particular slice could have fed the Warners for a week unless Wakko got to it first. Nelly and Yakko had it all to themselves. 

"We have the full version up front by the cash register. The whole cake costs about 35 dollars." Viola offered up the information. 

"Swirls buys books that cost more than that!" Yakko couldn't keep from exclaiming. "Good thing you didn't want it ala mode. I'll go grab your check." Viola said as she eyed the slice of cake and walked off. Nelly sat there, trying so hard to stifle the hysterical laughter that wanted to erupt from her.

Yakko looked from the cake of death to his somewhat odd dinner companion. "Do we eat as much as we can and then box the rest?" he asked, unsure of what to do with so much food. Usually Wakko ate anything before Yakko could touch such delicacies.

Nelly shrugged, having sobered up from the laughing. "I guess so. Help yourself though, I ate most of the french fries, only polite you eat most of the cake."

Yakko just stared at the cake. He had wanted candy earlier, and now it was some higher power's payback time. 

Yakko picked up the fork that lay on the side of the plate and slowly grabbed himself a bite from the cake. It seemed to just melt in his mouth and disintegrate into nothingness, leaving a rich taste in his mouth. "It's baked flavored air!" he said as he looked back at the cake. 

"But is it good?" Nelly asked as she began to take a bite. 

"Yes." Yakko replied and the two ate their dessert.

Dot opened the door to the twins room and found them rolling on the floor, screaming at the top of their lungs. 

"Stop bitin' my arm!" 

"Quit kickin' me!" 

"Ow! That's my tail!" 

"No, it's my tail!" and Dot had no clue which voice belonged to who.

Dot watched in stunned amazement and couldn't decide if the Exorcist or the twins fighting was worse. But after a moment of not knowing what to do, Dot screamed out, "QUIET!" and the twins stopped mid-fighting. Wakko's arm in Swirls' mouth, Wakko's mouth on Swirls' neck and both their hands on each other's tails. 

"You can watch Chaplin now." Dot said calmly as if nothing had happened and then walked out of the room. The twins looked at each other, released themselves from their death grips and raced towards the family room.

Nelly looked up towards the night sky and let out a blissful sigh. "I can't believe you finished off that cake!" she said and then giggled. 

"Why? Did you not get enough?" Yakko asked as he walked down the street with her. "Oh, no, I got plenty. I just can't believe you ate the other half!" 

Yakko grinned. "Next time we'll buy the whole cake and you can watch Wakko eat the entire thing in one gulp." 

"He actually does that?" Nelly asked, amazed. 

"Of course. But now he'll have to learn how to share, what with Swirls now." 

"Oh yes, I saw her eat her share at breakfast this morning." Nelly said as the two headed towards the ticket window at the AMC.

Once inside the theater, Nelly looked at her ticket and then up at the two sections of where the movies were. The Red side where theaters 1-10, or so the marquee explained, and the Blue Side was 11-20. 

"Want any popcorn?" Nelly offered. 

"After that cake? Please forgive me if I say no thank you." Yakko said as he led Nelly towards the blue side. 

Nelly watched as Yakko picked the exact middle of the theater and found that she was rewarded with the best view of the screen. 

The theater had been recently renovated and people had the choice of either having the arms up or down on their seats. Nelly sat to the right of Yakko and placed the arm on her right down, while he placed the arm on his left down and they couldn't help but cuddle as the light dimmed and the movie started.

Dot lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as Swirls and Wakko cuddled in the La-Z-Boy, both trying to fend off sleep. 

"I'm sure he'll come home anytime now." Dot said as she yawned.

"And," Swirls yawned, "Maybe pigs will fly." she said and then watched as Wakko yawned as well.

"He did say maybe in the morning." Wakko repeated the words said earlier by their brother. 

"But Yakko wouldn't just leave us home alone by ourselves." Dot said as she began to sit up. 

"Why not? He's all ready done so much for us, the least we could do is let him have a night on the town." Wakko replied. 

"But he has no money!" Dot said worriedly. 

"So? He can't go far. Go to bed Dot. We'll wait up for him." Swirls said. 

Dot sighed and began to head for her bedroom, but before she entered the hallway she asked softly, "Someone tuck me in." 

Wakko and Swirls looked between each other and then stood. "We'll both do it." they said in unison.

"That was such a sweet film." Nelly said as the two walked to her car. 

"Yeah. I thought we'd both enjoy it. I'm so used to having to watch films Wakko and Dot want to watch it's rare I get to see something that interests me." 

"Well, where should we head off to next?" she asked him as she unlocked her car. 

"You're the driver, you decide." Yakko replied to her.

"What time do you need to be home by?" Nelly asked as she started up the car. 

"I told them I might not come home till morning." 

"Then, well, perhaps you want to see my place? I know it's a drive, but I've seen the tower, maybe you should see my home away from the studio." she offered, her voice wavering in slight nervousness.

Yakko smiled. "It'd be nice to see." 

There was good traffic and in a little more than an hour Nelly was pulling into the parking lot of El Rancho Casa in Yorba Linda of Orange County. 

Nelly's apartment was on the second floor and one door down from the stairs. Yakko looked around as Nelly searched for her keys and unlocked the door. "Light blue seems to be a popular color." Yakko noted as he followed Nelly into her apartment.

Nelly flipped on a light and closed the door and smiled as she watched Yakko's eyes widen and a small gasp escape from him.

The entire room was in authentic 1920's. From the beaded lampshades, down to the plush rose colored carpet, Yakko felt as if he had been thrown back in history. 

"It's only a one room apartment." Nelly explained as she walked in and placed her purse underneath a covered end table where a pink beaded lampshade gave off most of the light.

Yakko blinked and audibly gulped. "Y-You live here?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, too stunned to really make any sense of it. 

"Yeah. Most of this stuff was my grandmother's and the rest is from antiquating or garage sales. Do you like it?" she asked as she headed into the kitchen. 

Yakko slowly took a step forward. "Yes." he said, his voice going to normal and his eyes taking in the beauty of the room.

"Do you want any coffee? Or I can make you some hot chocolate, the one that uses hot water instead of milk." she called from the kitchen. 

Yakko gently fingered one of the pink glass beads on the lampshade. "Chocolate, please." he said as he went from lampshade to the white doily that lay on the table. On top of the doily sat a porcelain cup with an indistinguishable design on it. Inside lay popourri that smelled of lilac and lavender. 

Once she had set the water onto boil, Nelly re-entered the room to still find Yakko taking in everything. She watched as he lightly fingered the material on the couch, or run a finger down another lampshade. His steps were so light on the carpet, almost afraid as if he might trample it. 

"What do you think?" she finally asked him.

"Is-is there more?" Yakko asked softly as he turned to her. 

"Just my room, and the kitchen. But they're so unor--" 

"Show me." 

"Ex-excuse me?" 

"Would you mind if I asked for the grand tour?" 

Nelly smiled as for once someone was interested in her stuff. "I'd love to." she said as she led him to her bedroom.

She slowly opened the door to her room and only sunlight itself could make the room any brighter. It modeled no one single era, but many of them. The bed looked something like out of Gone with the Wind. It had a pink and creme satin canopy and a golden tassel rope could be pulled to close the curtains around the bed to create an inner sanctum. Light blue satin covered the headboard and four large pillows were propped onto the bed. In the middle of these pillows was a pink shaped heart pillow. A comforter with large roses covered the rest of the bed.

The carpet here was also rose colored and plush, just like everywhere else in the apartment. A woman's dresser was filled with earrings and necklaces, as well as hair ties and an authentic silver brush, comb and mirror which had Nelly's initials engraved in an elegant script on the back. 

There were two other doors; one that led to a closet and the other to a bathroom which looked like it would be the only modern thing in here. Besides the bed and the dresser, porcelain dolls filled one wall of the room, along with a few teddy bears.

"I think I may have overdone it." Nelly said as Yakko looked around the room, particularly at the overly comfortable bed. 

"Is the spread and pillows real goose down?" he asked softly. 

"Yes." Nelly replied, curious as to his question. 

"Then you have only fulfilled in keeping the past and my dreams in tact." Yakko responded rather poetically as he looked at the porcelain dolls.

"I guess you could say I take my work home with me." Nelly said as she headed over to the bed just to take off her shoes. They were flat pumps, but even those got tiring on occasion. 

"You protect old films and then come home to them." Yakko said with a smile as by now he was at the dresser looking at the antique perfume bottles.

Nelly giggled and walked over to the dresser as Yakko still looked at each particular bottle. She took the hair-tie from her tightly wrapped bun and as her hair cascaded down to her waist, Yakko watched in the mirror, amazed at it's length. Picking up the hairbrush, Penelope began to brush out the waves. The perfume bottles vanished from Yakko's thoughts and he watched as she moved over to the bed, sat down, and continued to brush her hair.

He quickly took his eyes off of Nelly and looked at the hand mirror which had her initials engraved on them as well. P.A.E. "What's your middle name?" he asked as he traced the initials. 

"Anne. Penelope Anne Eclaire," and then she blinked and set the brush down on her knee, "I sound like a dessert!" she cried out softly. 

Yakko chuckled, not being able to help the sudden realization. ~Yeah, but you taste great.~ he thought.

"If you could change your name, would you?" he decided to ask to help divert her from the sad thought of being a dessert. 

"Yes. I always thought Persephone was an under-rated name." Nelly replied as she resumed brushing her hair.

"Ah, but see, then I could shorten that to Nessie and refer to you as the Loch-Ness monster." Yakko told her as he walked over to where she was to sit at her feet. 

"You wouldn't, would you?" she asked worriedly. 

"Hey, I've heard rumors you hate being called Nelly. That's just a typo from Nessie." he said as he sat Indian style at her feet. 

"Gods you're evil." Nelly replied with a smile as she brushed the underside of her hair. Yakko waggled his eyebrows, "You have no idea." he said in a low voice to her. 

"What about you?" she asked, trying to change the subject, knowing the little boy's mind was quickly filling up with bedroom thoughts. "Do you have a middle name?" 

Yakko shook his head. "Nope. Yakko Warner s'all I got."

"And if you could change your name, would you?" Nelly asked. 

Yakko grinned, "I could be Groucho Jr." 

Nelly laughed. "I think Arthur Marx has that one covered." she said. 

Yakko shrugged and Nelly decided to go on with her next question. "And if there was one thing the world needed to know about Yakko Warner, what would you tell them?"

Yakko thought long and hard on this one before he replied with, "That even though I may take after my siblings which means wrecking havoc, causing chaos and scaring people, that I am growing up as well and someday they will no longer have me under their thumb."

"They?" Nelly asked curiously. 

"The world, the studio, people who want to act like our parents. The moment I can get them to believe I'm 18, I'll be legal. I could vote then you know." Nelly nodded knowing well the responsibility and freedom that came with that age. Yakko smiled. 

"And what does the world need to know about Penelope Eclaire, the world's best tasting dessert!" he said happily.

Nelly gave him a look, "Watch it bud. But as to answer your question, I'd like the world to know I am not a dessert, as bookish as I appear and that only a few people in this world may call me Nelly. My parents and my boyfriend." 

"Your...boyfriend?" Yakko asked softly, quickly looking at the ground.

Nelly slid down to the ground and took his hands in hers which made him look up and they stared into each other's eyes. "You." she whispered softly. Yakko smiled and before another word could be said, the teapot whistled.

The twins had tucked Dot into bed and then left her so they too could fall asleep in their own bed. But by the time 1:37 rolled around, Dot found she was still wide-awake, and that the majority of her thoughts were worried about her brother.

Sliding out of bed and putting on her pink slippers, Dot slowly opened the door to her room and stepped into the hallway. The door to the twins room was closed and she was sure they were asleep by now. 

She stood there for a moment wondering what she should do. Yakko had said he was going out, by himself. And yet, he had brought rental movies. From Blockbuster no less and Blockbuster was rather expensive.

~But he said we have no money.~ Dot thought as she made her way to her eldest brother's room. She slowly opened the door to his room and peered in. It was empty save for the moonlight illuminating the room in a pale splendor.

She entered the room, closing the door behind her. Perhaps something in here would give her an idea where he had gone off to. ~Won't return till morning. Does he think a pair of fifteen-year-old twins can take care of me?~ she thought angrily. 

She carefully looked around the room. Looking at his night stand and finding nothing she went to his desk and went through the papers that always seem to litter the walnut colored writing area. She finally looked up at the mirror that hung above the desk and found a yellow post it note with pink writing on it. "Nelly's number" it read and then gave an out of county area code. 

~When she spent the night with us, she said she lived in Yorba Linda. What's the area code for Orange County?~ Dot thought as she stared at the post it note. She searched her memory for all the times she remembered Yakko asking her to make a phone call for him. It dawned on her. Yorba Linda was in Orange County and the area code was 714. The number in parenthesis was 714! 

~But what if he isn't at her house? What if he's just out taking a walk?~ Dot looked at the note again. ~Never hurts to try.~ and she picked up Yakko's cordless phone.

Yakko and Nelly sat across from each other at the small round table that was perfect for them. It was only meant to hold two people. They both sipped at their drinks, coffee for Nelly and Hot Chocolate sans marshmallows for Yakko. They were silent, each pondering their own, happy to just be in the other's company. 

It took them a moment though when the phone began to ring as the sound didn't seem to quite connect to their tired minds. 

"I think it's the phone." Yakko finally said as he looked over at the white rotary on the wall. Nelly blinked and looked at the cat clock. The same one the Warners owned as well. "Who would be calling at 2:00 in the morning?" Nelly wondered aloud as she stood and got the phone.

"Hello?" she asked as she picked it up. 

"Um...is a Miss Eclaire there? This..." and then the voice stopped, as if afraid to go on. "Yes, this is Miss Eclaire. May I ask who's calling?" Nelly said trying to sound as polite and gentle as she could.

"Is my brother at your house Miss Eclaire. This is...Dot. Warner." the scared little voice replied back. Nelly mouthed the word oh as her eyes widened a tad. She looked over to Yakko who by now was quite curious. 

"Yes Dot. Your brother is here. Would you like to talk to him?" Nelly said. The moment the word Dot was uttered, Yakko began to shake his head and hands wildly trying to beg Nelly not to let her do it.

"Yes please. I'd like to ask him something." Dot replied, still in a soft, cute voice that made her sound like she was six, and not ten. Nelly nodded and offered the phone to a sighing Yakko as he took it.

"Hello?" he asked, his own voice sounding tired now. The sound that replied was an angry voice and Nelly could hear it, even if she couldn't make out the words.

"Who do you think you are?! Leaving your poor defenseless sister with a pair of twins who fight over cards games and are afraid of scary movies! You just up and leave us so you could what?! You're over at her house! Are...are you...are you having..." but Dot trailed off and Yakko let out a heavy breath as anger began to swell within him.

"Are we having fun? Why yes, we are. Are we having _that_ kind of fun? Weeeeellll if you hadn't called I might have been able to tell you tomorrow morning when Miss Eclaire would be bringing me home." Yakko responded, deciding to not get angry at his overly curious sister. 

Nelly smirked and quickly stifled the giggle that wanted to come out as she overheard this. "But Yakko! I--" 

"I'm fine, you should be in bed and that's final!" Yakko said, ignoring Dot's protest. He heard Dot sigh over the phone. 

"You will pay for this." Dot said harshly over the phone. 

"Oooh! I'm _so_ scared. What are you going to do? Paint the door to my room pink?" Yakko asked. 

He couldn't help but fight with her just like a kid brother would do for in fact, that was what he still was. Even though he couldn't see it, Dot smiled evilly, 

"No dear brother, I will find worse to hurt you with." she said in a calm voice which sent a tiny shiver down Yakko's spine, but before he could reply he heard a click and knew Dot had hung up on him. He sighed. 

"Why are women always hanging up on me?" he muttered as he handed Penelope the phone.

Nelly giggled as she hung up the receiver. "Because women know that if they let you talk they'd either find that you end up being right in the end, or you'll talk their ear off." she replied as she sat back down at the table.

Yakko raised a brow as he picked up the mug to his chocolate. "I thought women were always supposed to be right?" he asked as he took a sip. 

Nelly smiled. "Everyone's wrong sometimes, but I heard that on rare occasions men are most often that not more correct on certain subjects." Yakko nodded as he listened but couldn't help but stifle a yawn in the process.

Nelly gave the boy an empathetic smile, "I'm sorry, I must be boring you." 

"No. Just tired. I'm not used to all nighters unless they involve some...activity." he said, brows waggling on activity. Nelly rolled her eyes as she took her cup to the sink. Yakko followed and handed his mug to her. 

"Do you just constantly think about sex?" she asked him. Yakko gasp and took a step back as if in shock.

"Why my dear Nelly! On the contrary, until last night I constantly thought about women." he replied. 

"What happened after last night?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. 

"I met you, we had some fun and now I just think about you, that shirt and that..." Yakko growled, obviously mentioning the black thong. Nelly could only chuckle at the last comment.

"Well, I can't say you've never made me laugh." she said as she led the way to the bedroom. Yakko followed, he hadn't been told he couldn't yet.

Heading for the closet, she picked out her own nightclothes and then began to rummage around, pulling out a large green checkered flannel shirt. "Well I'm sorry, but you're sleeping clothed tonight." she said as she threw him the shirt. Yakko looked at it and made a slight face of disgust. 

"So now the situation's reversed and you have the upper hand." he said softly, but with a smile. 

"Yep." she said and she entered the bathroom and closed the door, smiling.

When Nelly came out from the bathroom she was wearing a long pink nightgown with a green fairy on the front. The word 'Princess' was printed in a rolling script underneath. Yakko, having changed into the green flannel shirt shook his head at Nelly's nightgown. 

"I should get Dot one of those for Christmas." he said as Nelly made her way to the bed. 

Yakko stood in the center of the carpet as he watched Nelly slide under the covers. She smiled at him and patted the spot next to her. 

"You can join me, as long as you promise to behave." Yakko gave his half grin and hopped in next to her as he gave her kiss a cheek. 

"Good night my little Dessert." he said as he snuggled under the covers. Nelly shook her head as she too snuggled under the covers.

"Good night my little Yakkster." she said as she couldn't help but wrap her arms around him. He cuddled against her and just before she fell asleep she felt his tail wrap around her ankle and she couldn't care less.


	4. Justice

Part IV: Justice

The clock with neon yellow LED screen turned to the next minute and began to play the local news radio. "GOOOOOD Morning Orange County! It's 5:15, closing in on 5:20 and we have got some news updates for you!" but the news updates never came as Nelly's hand flew out and punched in the button that turned off the alarm. 

She sat up a bit in bed and yawned, looking out her window and realizing that even if it was dawn, it was still dark. She reached under her blanket to scratch her foot when she felt something fuzzy and hard around her ankle. She found Yakko sleeping soundly next to her and she smiled. 

Nelly leaned over and softly kissed his lips and before she knew it, his arms wrapped around her neck and tried to pull her down. She broke the kiss. 

"Good morning my dear. Did you sleep well?" she asked as Yakko opened his eyes. Yakko smiled and sat up. "Slept fine, but that was a great way to wake up. I know! Let's do it again, only this time you pretend your asleep and I'll kiss you!" he suggested eagerly. Nelly giggled. "I would, but you're tail is wrapped around my ankle and I still have to get to work today." 

Yakko pouted and looked under the covers. "Wiggle your ankle. I still haven't unlocked the secret to this." he said and Nelly wiggled her ankle. Once free, she looked at it and sighed. A large red mark surrounded it like an anklet. 

"Sorry." Yakko said bashfully and Nelly shrugged. 

"Hopefully it'll wash off in the shower." 

Yakko perked up at the mention of shower. "We get to take a shower?" he said, his eyes sparkling in some unknown light. 

Nelly shook her head with a grin. "I'll take my shower while you can go eat breakfast. Help yourself to the kitchen." she said as she stood and gathered her clothing for the day. Yakko pouted and headed out of the room. 

Yakko stood in the middle of the small kitchen. What did one eat at 5:30 in the morning? Oatmeal wouldn't hold over for very long and toast always needed something a little extra. He popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and looked around the kitchen for other things that could go with toast. He brought out the grape jelly from the refrigerator and as he did, his mind wandered towards his family. ~Okkay, I've had my 24 hours of fun, but now it's time to get serious. Someone set the fire to the church, and it was to kill Swirls. Who ever the higher up at the studio was at--~ A gentle tap on the shoulder interrupted Yakko's thoughts. He turned his head, and saw Nelly smiling at him. "You're going to burn out my refrigerator light." she said, dressed in a pastel green skirt suit. 

Yakko waggled his brows and said in a low voice. "I hope that's all I'll wear out." Nelly giggled. 

"Quit that. Go fix your toast and I'll scramble some eggs." Yakko smiled as he spread the jelly on the toast and popped in two more slices for Nelly. 

Breakfast was of course, ready in no time and afterwards, Nelly packed her lunch as Yakko got dressed. 

The drive to Burbank was mostly silent, the freeway wasn't too badly backed up and the radio played lightly over the silence. Yakko couldn't help but begin to think. ~Lon knew someone wanted us dead, and he knew it was a higher-up as well. Somehow he was connected. But who was the higher up? So many people hated us back then.~ 

As Yakko's thinking paused, a woman on the radio said, 

"In other news today, the remaining family of Thomas Henry is asking St. Catherine's to release all information they have on the man who was killed in the devastating fire of 1934..." but Yakko turned off the radio and turned to Nelly with wide eyes. 

"Get me everything you can on Thomas Henry and on all the hire ups that worked at the studio in 1934." Yakko said as they pulled into the studio. 

Nelly blinked and nodded. "What are you planning to do?" she asked him. 

"My sibs and I are going to find out exactly what Francine Lewis knows."

Swirls had been terrified when Yakko asked her to take them to Francine, but they all knew this might be their only chance at cracking this case. When they got there though, Swirls hid behind her mirror and had Yakko knock on the door. Francine blinked when she saw the Warners at the door. 

"May...I help you?" she asked, confused. 

"Miss Lewis, I am Yakko Warner, and these are my sibs." Yakko said as he waved a hand to mention Wakko and Dot. Swirls couldn't be seen. 

Francine tried to close the door. "I can't talk right--" 

"Miss Lewis, please, help us." Swirls said as she stepped out from behind Wakko. Francine shook her head in disbelief. "No. No no no. If all of you are together..." she trailed off as her eyes widened and she turned to go back inside, leaving the door open. The Warners followed with Dot closing the door.

"What will happen Miss Lewis? Please, we need to know." Swirls said softly as Francine sat on the sofa. Swirls next to Francine, Wakko next to Swirls. Yakko stood on the other side of Francine and Dot next to him. 

Francine shook her head. "Everyone wants you all dead. They always have wanted you dead. The studio, the government, everyone. With all the damages costing them so much money, they figured it would be easy to kill you all. But...I couldn't let that happen, and neither could Mother Superior or Father Jerome. We would've happily taken you all in." Francine said in between tears. 

Yakko looked at Francine. "Who was Thomas working for?" he asked her softly. 

"I...can't tell you." Francine whispered back. 

"You can!" the twins said in unison. 

"No, I can't. Mr. Borax never told us who wanted you split up, besides the studio." 

"Then who can?!" Dot asked, exasperated. 

"It's all in the archives." Francine whispered, her eyes having been wide through the whole conversation, now lowered into slits. "Go. Now. I don't think it's safe here anymore." she continued to whisper. The Warners nodded and left.

When the four Warners returned to the studio, they decided to check on Nelly in the hopes she had found something for them. But upon entering the archives they found that her desk was loaded down with thousands of manila folders.

"Nelly?" Yakko called out as the four padded along the cool marble floor. 

"Behind the files! I think I found something!" Nelly called out in reply as she waved a hand above the stack of folders.

When they came around the other side of the desk, Nelly held a crinkled and extremely old profile paper in her hand.

"Sean Harrison. He became the CEO when Jack Warner decided he wanted to be in movies." A black and white photo of Harrison was in the top right corner and they all seemed to memorize the young face. Nelly handed Yakko the paper and grabbed another one from the folder. This paper had yellowed edges, but still looked new. 

"After a psychologist examination the day after to guys wrecked his office, the psychiatrist suggested that Harrison be given the pink slip. Sean told the doctor, in detail, how he was plotting to kill all four of you." Nelly pointed to the section that said 'Session Notes' at the bottom of the paper. It was all the same and it truly was all there. Everything down to the exact second of how Harrison would buy the supplies, Henry would set up the fire and St. Catherine's would burn to the ground.

"Is he still alive?" Swirls and Wakko asked in unison, almost eagerly. 

"Supposedly so, but good luck on finding him. He could be anywhere." Nelly said as she closed the folder and handed it to Yakko. 

Dot smiled as she approached Nelly. "Do you have a phone book? Preferably the white pages?" 

Nelly blinked, confused, leaned under her desk and grabbed the phone book, handing it to Dot. Dot flipped through the pages and finally began to rattle off, 

"Harrison, Sean. 818-555-7871. 1430 Northwest Drive, Burbank." Everyone looked at Dot, shocked. Obviously, none of them had thought of that trick.

"But is he the right one?" Yakko asked suspiciously. 

"Well, let's go and find out!" Dot exclaimed. 

The four were about to race out of the room when Nelly cried out, "Stop! Don't you want Harrison to be properly jailed for his crimes? To be tested against the full force of the law?"

"What's in it for us?" Yakko asked, confused, taking on the personalities of his siblings. "Perhaps money, to know that justice has been served and that this man may possibly go to jail for the rest of his life so he can't harm others." Nelly responded.

"You know, you're really taking the fun out of this." Dot said with folded arms and a frown.

"Besides, the police would never believe anything we say." Swirls added with Wakko agreeing by a nod of his head.

Nelly smiled evilly. "Then leave everything to me." she said, beginning to sound like a Warner herself.

It had been nearly two weeks since Nelly had promised that Sean Harrison would get his dues. But for nearly two weeks, none of the four had seen Nelly, and their had been no news anywhere that the former CEO of the studio was in jail or coming close to receiving the vengeance all four Warners had plotted for him. Yakko and Dot had been cool about the whole situation. They were currently browsing the internet for just anything that seemed interesting. Wakko had gotten bored and asked Swirls to play a game of checkers, which she happily agreed to, but halfway through the game began to pace when Wakko was deciding which piece he should move next. Out of the four, it was Swirls that seemed the most uptight. She constantly clutched and unclenched her hands as she paced the length between the checker game and Yakko and Dot at the table. 

"I swear I am going to go insane." Swirls mumbled once or twice as she took off her hat and began to wrench it between her hands. Wakko watched as his mirror paced and couldn't help but take off his own hat.

~I need to gamble. I need money. I need a newspaper. I need to know what's going on at the races.~ Swirls mind rushed at a thought per millisecond. 

~Then go get one.~ Wakko would shout back at her. 

~I have no money. You need money to place bets. When is Nelly going to find out.~ ~Relax. Put your hat back on and come make your move.~ Swirls sighed and walked back over to Wakko as she did place her cap back on.

"Yakko, why don't you call Nelly? Maybe she went back to her apartment and forgot about us." Dot suggested softly. 

"I've tried. All I get is her answering machine." 

"Maybe she's in trouble." Wakko suggested himself as he looked over at the other two. Yakko's eyes shot at Wakko's and Wakko shrank back. No telepathy needed to be used to tell what Yakko was thinking. A thought of Nelly being in trouble was the worse anything could be thought of, especially when they were dealing with...Harrison who had now become the tower hold name for attempted-murderer.

There was a knock at the tower door and Dot jumped up to go answer it. A tall man in a business suit smiled down at her when she opened the door. 

"Hello. I suppose you're one of the Warners. Here," the man said as he took a large brown envelope from under his arm, "This is for your brother, Yakko. Have a nice day!" and the man left. Dot turned around, looking at the envelope oddly as she handed it to Yakko. 

"What is it?" Wakko asked as he and Swirls approached the table. Yakko opened the envelope and took out the few papers that were in there. Yakko skimmed the papers and blinked. 

"It's...a court summons." he said softly. 

"A what?" Dot asked. 

"A habeas corpus?" Swirls asked. 

The other three Warners looked at her with one raised brow. 

She sighed. "Let me guess, a judge is asking we come forward at a court for some reason or another." 

"To prosecute someone." Yakko responded looking back at the papers. 

"What?" Wakko asked. 

"In the trial of Harrison vs. Warners. It seems like dear Nelly did take care of everything. We have to appear in court tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp." Yakko said as he slid the papers back into the envelope. 

"What'll I wear?!" Dot cried out as she ran to her room. Swirls and Wakko could only feel relieved. Finally, they would see the man who tried to separate them.

The four Warners entered the courtroom, but weren't amazed at what they saw, all except for Swirls that is. Yakko, Wakko, and Dot had been in a courtroom before when they were having problems with a meter maid, but for Swirls, she had never seen the American Judicial system at work before.

The only thing the Warners wondered about was where they should sit, but they saw Nelly waving them over to what look like it could've been their side. A man in a business suit, the same one that had given Dot the papers, sat at the dark wood table. 

"I got you guys a lawyer if you didn't mind. I've spent weeks going over the case with him. We've got some great evidence against Harrison." the four could only nod as they sat down.

The bailiff announced the judge and the trial began. As the lawyers rattled off their opening statements, Swirls and Wakko leaned forward to try and catch a glimpse of Harrison and saw him. A short, pudgy little man, probably no taller than 5'3", he was all ready bald and had bloodshot eyes. His cheeks were red as if he drank and there was gray stubble on his chin. He wore a tattered old white shirt with a large yellow stain near the right shoulder. Over his shirt was a thin blue sweater. He didn't look happy and when he caught Swirls and Wakko staring at them, he sneered and snapped his teeth together as if trying to bite them. They both sat back in their chairs. He really didn't seem like a man to mess with.

Evidence was brought forth, people testified, and the people were old. Most of them were witnesses when they saw the fire break out. More evidence and old photos were presented and so far it looked as if Harrison was winning. Everything was so old, and he seemed like just a crotchety old man. Who cared? Until Nelly stood up.

"Your Honor, just a couple of days ago the police were given a warrant to search Harrison's home. I was wondering if they could bring in some evidence they found?" The judge nodded and two policemen carried in a large box, setting it on the evidence table. The Warners lawyer, who had been now recognized as Owen Inba, began to pull out the evidence and explained each piece as he went along. Everyone in the courtroom became shocked.

Thousands, upon thousands of papers were produced, in Harrison's own writing, that he was plotting, again, to try and kill the Warners. Blue prints for bombs of all sorts came out of the box, as well as hand drawn and computer diagrams. Addresses of hitmen and receipts for payment were produced. Pictures of stratigical hit points on the tower were also produced, and finally, a dart board with several darts plotted on a group picture of the Warners came out of the box. 

"Stop Stop! I know there isn't anymore! Yes! I'll swear and pledge right here and now that I have plots to murder those...those...those little pieces of--" Swirls gasped and put her fingers to her ears, Wakko pulled down his hat and Yakko and Dot covered their own ears as Harrison began to curse a horrible blue streak. 

"Order! ORDER! Mr. Harrison, there is no place for language like that in my court." the judge cried out.

"It doesn't matter. If you care, I plead guilty. Guilty for attempted murder, for arson, for whatever you want to charge me with. But I swear that in jail I will still plot and plan, not only to get out of hell, but to continue to attempt to kill the Warners. There is no place in this world for extreme anarchy. And that's what they are. Godless, non-fearing daemon heathens who try to spread Anarchy and Satanism through this good heavenly place of Earth. They are the ones who should be in jail! They who have caused millions of dollars in damage! They should burn in hell for the troubles they've caused!" Harrison sat down as he still fumed in his seat. The Warners looked at each other and gave cuckoo signs, for obviously Harrison had gone a little too past the right and outside of the box.

"Are you through Mr. Harrison?" the judge asked. Harrison nodded quickly and the judge looked to both of the lawyers. 

"We rest our case." Harrison's lawyer said, almost embarrassed from the outburst his defendant had given. The judge looked over to Owen.

"We rest our case." 

The judge nodded and banged his gavel.

"Court dismissed until the jury has reached a verdict." and both the judge, as well as the jury and the rest of the court went to relieve themselves of Harrison.

It hadn't been long when the jury had informed the court that they were ready with their verdict. When court resumed, the judge looked to the jury. 

"Have you reached a verdict?" 

"We have." 

"What say you?" 

"We find that on behalf of the court of LA County, to find the prosecutors, the Warners, to be innocent. And that the Defendant should pay 200,000 dollars in punitive damages to the Warners as well as going through a 4 year period psychiatric session and be put into Los Alamos Asylum." a young blonde announced. 

"I couldn't have said it any better. Case dismissed!" the judge called out as he banged his gavel against the podium. Everyone began to leave as Harrison began to scream obscenities at the Warners. 

"Bon Voyage!" 

"Au Revoir!" 

"C'est la vie!" 

"Aloha Oy!" 

"Oy Vey!" the Warners called out to Harrison has the last of him disappeared through the door.

"We've got money! We've got money!" Swirls, Wakko and Dot chanted happily as they rushed out of the courthouse and down the steps. Yakko and Nelly on the other hand stood at the top of the steps and watched as the fading sun began to fall down behind the tall Burbank buildings, turning the world a vibrant orange.

"I hate to break it to them that Plotz will probably get it all." Yakko said as he stuck his hands into his pockets. 

"Why's that?" Nelly asked softly as she watched the three little Warners play around the statue of Justice at the bottom of the steps. 

"He always finds some reason. I don't worry about it much." Yakko said as he too watched his siblings.

"I guess that's it then. There's no more worrying. You and your siblings can live happily ever after." Nelly said as a note of sadness entered her voice. Yakko looked up to her with a half grin. 

"You know, I still need a beautiful princess to live with me in my kingdom." Nelly blushed a bit. 

"Do you really want me as a Princess though?" she asked, curious. Yakko put his arm around her waist. 

"I couldn't imagine any other woman Nelly." 

"Well then. I love a party." she said as she smiled and rested her head on top of Yakko's. The sun slipped down beneath the horizon, the stars began to shine brightly and the town of Burbank had one less Psycho and one more family to bring into their life.


End file.
